Saturday Recipe: Perfect Pumpkin Soup

Amber Sewell-Green shows you how to make the perfect exam-time soup.
I know I’m on the soup wagon lately, but truly this is the perfect time of year to cosy up with a bowl of soup. The ingredients are cheap, nutritious and you can make a big batch and freeze it in portions to take to Uni or have an easy heat-up meal when you get home. This recipe is vego and vegan friends, and macrobiotic. Pumpkins are in season, and really cheap right now, I suggest buying pumpkins in bulk and using half for soup and the rest for salads or roasting.
Ingredients (Serves 2)
1 brown onion, peeled and chopped
¼ of a pumpkin, remove skin and seeds, and roughly dice
1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 Tbs miso paste
¼ cup butter beans
1 tsp chilli
1 vegetable stock cube
1 small tin corn
¼ cup coconut milk (optional)
Season with salt and pepper
Method
1. Place the onion in a large pot, add just enough water to cover the onion (about 1.5 cups), add a pinch of salt and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.
2. Add the carrot, pumpkin and stock cube and cover with water. Bring to the boil and cook for approximately 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.
3. Stir through the miso paste, butter beans and chilli.
4. Remove from the heat and let cool, before blending with a bar mixer or food processor.
5. Season to taste, and if too thick, add extra water.
6. Stir through the corn and coconut milk (if using).
Mix it up
For a warmer flavour, try adding some powdered or freshly grated ginger. You could also stir through some shredded nori (seaweed sheets) instead of the corn.
Image: elana’s pantry, Flickr, no changes made.