Delicious Pumpkin Soup with Parmesan and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I am not a big fan of soups. I rather prepare them in colder months if my lovely job activities don’t order otherwise. However, this is definitely one of the top soups I have ever tasted. I assigned to myself a small pumpkin project in The Fall. This time I tried to mix 3 kinds of them: Hokkaido, Butternut Squash and Winter Squash – Delicous Pumpkin Soup.

The butternut squash has a kind of avocado texture like. Thinner part of the butternut is more buttery. The Hokkaido is really sweet and tastes like a white carrot. The winter squash is a whole seperate chapter. Here in Southern Austria, there is a special kind called “Blue de Hongrie or Blaue ungarische Bratkürbisse”. It is sweet and quite juicy.

One important note to add, do not throw the seeds. It is really easy to process them and they are quite healthy and delicious, too.

My inspiration started with The Jamie Oliver Team. Once you taste this soup, I guarantee, you will come back to it every year. The secret is to have very good products and patience. Feel free to combine pumpkins of your liking. Outstanding color and taste, so yummy!

Delicious Pumpkin soup makes a wonderful main dish for kids 2 plus. Garlic and onion may be a bit harder to digest for the babies of the age of 1 plus. Besides that, this soup is one of the best first additions to little ones. It is very colorful, rich in flavour and healthy, even with the Parmesan Cheese. Skip the seeds and serve as warm lunch.

Total Time: 2 hours

The Pumpkin:
250g of Hokkaido Pumpkin (after cleaning), washed, peeled, deseeded and hardly chopped
500g of Butternut Squash (after cleaning preferably thicker part), washed, peeled, deseeded and hardly chopped
250g of Winter Squash (after cleaning), washed, peeled, deseeded and hardly chopped
2 splashes of olive oil
1 teaspoon of chilli, satureja and ground coriander

The Seeds:
Pumpkin Seeds (from approximately 1,5kg bought in pumpkin), washed
A splash of olive oil
1 teaspoon of sea salt, lemongrass, ground coriander and sweet paprika powder

The Soup:
1 large shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1 spring onion, cleaned, washed and finely chopped
2 large carrots, peeled, washed and diced
1 white carrot, peeled, washed and diced
1 large slice of celeriac, diced
Few branches of fresh sage leaves, washed and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed, peeled and finely chopped
1 litre of a good quality vegetable or meat stock
A knob of butter and olive oil
1 handful of fresh parsley, hardly chopped

Parmesan Cheese to finish
Fresh bread to serve with

The Pumpkin

First, preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Place all the pumpkin in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with 2 splashes of olive oil, chili, ground coriander and satureja. Mix with a metal spoon and throw it all into a large baking tray.
Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes until it gets beautifully soft and crusty.

The Seeds

Deseed all the flesh, not a big science, even though I read otherwise. Just clean as much as you can, and throw it into a sieve. Rinse under cold water and drain. Place in smaller baking tray. Sprinkle with olive oil, paprika powder, coriander, lemongrass and salt. Mix by using a metal spoon.

Once the pumpkin is done, increase the oven to 200 degrees and place the seeds in.
Roast them for about 10 minutes until they dry out and get golden. Do not burn them. Take them out, let them cool down entirely and place in a small jar. Beautiful!

The Soup

Prepare all the vegetables before the pumpkin is ready. Just before it is done, place a knob of butter with a good splash of olive oil into a deep cooking pan on high heat.

Onions in, nicely toss them until they get softer. Then, add carrots, celeriac and sage and continue roasting.
After 5 minutes add garlic, just to smell it out.

Now it is time to add all the pumpkin, so tasty already now.

Pour in 1 litre of stock and mix well. Lower the heat and taste. Season if needed. Cover with a lid and let it simmer for about 30 minutes until all vegetables soften nicely.

When the soup is done, taste once again. Blend for a bit with a hand blender. I like it smooth but with a crunch and pieces in it. Finish with a bit of fresh parsley.

Serve in a bowl with fresh bread. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese and 2 tablespoons of roasted seeds. Enjoy!

Makes 1 standard big pot of a soup.