Cream of Pumpkin Soup with Carrot and Honey
Pumpkin and carrot with honey, cumin and coriander seed — sweet and earthy at once, with chickpeas for body and lemon that lifts everything at the end. The green chilli and the ginger add a subtle heat that wakes it up. An easy, cheap, generous winter classic.
The stock goes in in two batches, not all at once: first the vegetables soften in half of it, and only at the end does the rest go in with the chickpeas. That way it stays dense instead of watery.
Want the more intense version? The squash and sweet potato soup with ginger uses six times as much ginger and swaps the carrot for sweet potato.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
- 1 kg pumpkin, peeled and deseeded, in small cubes
- 3 carrots, diced
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 hot green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tin (400 g) of chickpeas, drained
- Juice of 1 to 2 lemons
- 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
- 125 ml plain yogurt (1/2 cup)
- 2 tbsp red pepper, deseeded and finely diced
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Method
- 1
In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and cook them for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic, the cumin and the ground coriander seeds, and fry for 5 minutes more.
- 2
Add the pumpkin, the carrot, the honey, the chilli and the ginger. Pour in 500 ml of the stock and bring to the boil.
- 3
Cover and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
- 4
Add the chickpeas, the remaining 500 ml of stock and half of the lemon juice.
- 5
Simmer gently for 5 minutes. Take off the heat and blend with a stick blender until completely smooth.
- 6
Return the pot to the heat and warm it through. Adjust the consistency with more lemon juice or more stock if needed, and season.
- 7
Serve very hot in bowls, with a spoonful of plain yogurt in the centre and the diced red pepper scattered over.