Spicy pumpkin soup recipe

This delicious spicy pumpkin soup is an autumnal dish you'll love to try for lunch, starter or dinner. Made in just 1hr and 20 mins, this feiry soup serves 4 people and tastes as good as it looks. Garlic, onion, cinnamon, chilli and coriander make this pumpkin soup very more-ish. And roasting the pumpkin really brings out its flavour. This recipe is ideal for using up leftover pumpkin from Halloween carvings.

Ingredients

• 600g peeled and seeded pumpkin or squash (equivalent to about 1kg unprepared pumpkin), cut into 3cm cubes
• 6tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced across the grain
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• ½tsp freshly ground cinnamon
• Pinch of crushed dried chilli
• 1 medium potato (about 150g), peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
• 1 litre vegetable (or chicken) stock, preferably hot (use gluten-free if appropriate)
• 1 medium bunch (about 40g) of coriander, coarsely chopped
• 1-2tsp caster sugar (optional, depending on the sweetness of the pumpkin)

To serve:

• 50g unsalted butter
• 30g pine nuts
• ½tsp ground cinnamon
• 100g Greek yogurt, e.g. Total, thinned with 1tbsp milk
• ¼ garlic clove, crushed to a paste with a pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F, gas mark 7). Toss the pumpkin with 2tbsp of the olive oil, a good pinch of salt and some black pepper and spread it out in a roasting tin. Roast for about an hour, until very soft and starting to colour.
2. About 20 mins before the pumpkin is ready, heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook for about 15 mins, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to turn golden. Now add the garlic, cinnamon and chilli. Fry for another minute to release their flavour, then add the potato and a little salt and pepper. Cook for 5 mins more, taking care that the garlic doesn't burn, then add the roasted pumpkin and the stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 20 mins or until the potato is soft.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the garnishes. Melt the butter in your smallest pan, add the pine nuts and cinnamon and fry gently until the butter begins to caramelise and foam and the pine nuts are starting to turn a very pale brown.
4. Scrape the bottom of the pan to release any bits that are stuck and pour the pine nuts and butter into a cool bowl to stop the cooking. In another bowl, season the yogurt with the crushed garlic and some salt and pepper.
5. With a handheld blender or in a food processor, blend the soup until smooth. Return it to the pan, stir in the chopped coriander and check for seasoning. If the pumpkin soup is not sweet enough, add a little sugar. Serve with the seasoned yogurt, warm brown butter and pine nuts on top.