Roasted Pumpkin Soup with flavours of Lemongrass and Ginger
We're not yet fully into winter and yet early morning temperatures are hitting lows of 15C. Bangalore, how I love thee for this. With this soup I made for my son and me a couple of nights ago, I have hit upon another perfectly warming soup recipe for the winter evenings. The lemongrass keeps it fres
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 200 grams yellow pumpkin
- 1 onion large
- 3 cloves garlic of , peeled
- 6 - 7 lemon grass leaves
- 1/2 tsp ginger grated
- 1 1/2 cups milk skimmed
- Sea salt
- black pepper Freshly ground
- Paprika
- parsley Dried
Instructions
- Peel and slice the pumpkin into medium sized pieces.
- Peel and thinly slice the onion.
- Slice the garlic.
- In a large wok, heat the olive oil. Before oil gets hot, add the sliced garlic and onions. Saute on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the lemongrass leaves and ginger. Stir for a few seconds.
- Add the sliced pumpkin. Braise on high heat, shaking the wok every now and then until the slices get a golden brown coating.
- At this stage sprinkle sea salt and let this cook uncovered for 5 minutes on low heat.
- Add 1/2 cup water, cover and cook the pumpkin now, until it is fully done and falls apart when touched with a ladle.
- Remove to a dish and cool. Remove the lemon grass leaves from the cooked veggies and discard.
- Once cooled, remove this to a blender and blend to a smooth puree with milk.
- Get this back into a saucepan and check for seasoning. The soup will be reasonably thick and very creamy at this stage. Adjust consistency of soup using some water if required, if you prefer a thinner soup.
Notes
Serving
Ladle the hot soup into bowls. Top with some extra virgin olive oil. sprinkling of paprika, a tinge of grated ginger and some fresh lemongrass leaves as a garnish.
Serve with sliced toasted baguette which have been rubbed with garlic cloves, or soup sticks.
Tip
You can make this soup spicier by adding a Thai red chilli in the initial stage along with ginger and lemon grass.
You could try adding a tsp of fresh thyme leaves towards the end for a more intense flavour.
Here's a colourful guide on the different commonly available pumpkins and how to cook them.