new/old fashioned pumpkin soup

On the weekend, post blog meet, I spent some time in Florence Nightingale mode. I sent the patient off to have a bath, remade the bed, plumped the pillows and provided warm, medicinal beverages. For breakfast there was porridge, slow cooked with sultanas and freshly ground nutmeg. Lunch was an omelette featuring bright yellow, organic eggs, vibrant green silverbeet and red tomatoes. By the time dinner came around I figured soup would be in order for the sick one. But what soup, there are so many to choose from?

For a cold, I figure there are two ways to go. I love healing soup rich with shitake mushrooms and ginger in a nice, clear broth but there was no fish stock or mushrooms at hand. Plan B is the orange route, where the road to good health is paved with beta-carotene to strengthen the immune system.

Chopping up the pumpkin on a cold Sunday night felt comfortingly familiar. With how many pumpkins, in how many houses had I performed this simple action? Pumpkins were not a key feature of my childhood and there was more chicken noodle soup out of a packet than the homemade vegetable variety. Pumpkin soup came into my life as a student in shared houses. It has gone through many phases since– roasting or simmering, simple flavours or bold, blended with a creamy substance or on its own – and seen me leave dairy foods far behind.

There is no hard and fast recipe but this one works really well.

When feeding a sick companion it is always nice to stir in some extra love and well wishes for a speedy recovery. After all, you hope they will get well soon and tackle the growing pile of dishes by the end of the week!

Pumpkin soup 101

(3-6 serves depending on appetite)

1 tab vegetable oil
1 medium onion
3 cm knob, ginger (this gives the soup zing, if you don’t like ginger then leave out but for me this is one of the joys of the meal)
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tsp red curry paste
1/2 stick of lemongrass, bruised
1/2 medium sized pumpkin (a Jap in this case but variety is up to you)
1 large white potato
1 large carrot
vegetable bouillon (hot vegetable stock)
coconut milk (optional)
salt

Get your favourite heavy bottomed pot onto the stove. For me it is my trusty cast iron number (the French one) that I have had for over 20 years. Bring to a low-medium heat and add the oil. The good thing about this soup is that it is blended, so the ingredients can be roughly chopped. Peel everything but you can go easy on the dicing.

Throw in the onions and ginger. Stir til the onions are becoming transparent then add the garlic, lemongrass and curry paste. One teaspoon of paste (I use Mae Ploy) is enough to give it a hint of warmth without dominating the flavour and making it a curried soup. Stir for another couple of minutes til the paste has released some of its aroma. Add the vegetables and coat well in the spices. Now cover with hot stock. The amount used depends on whether you prefer a thin or thick soup. I cover my vegetables with only a couple of centimetres of fluid. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. An hour if you really want. Stir from time to time and make sure the water hasn’t evaporated.

Remove the stick of lemongrass. You are welcome to put it back in once the soup is blended.

Take the soup off the heat, add a dash (only a tablespoon or two is needed) of coconut milk and use your trusty stick blender to give it a whirr. Be sensible. If the pot is really full take care so you don’t scald yourself with hot soup. Obviously you can let it cool or blend in batches in a food processor if you prefer.

Return to the heat and add salt if needed.

The artistes out there would garnish with a flourish of coconut milk, others might like to just let the flavours do the talking.