It’s autumn and for me that means: Pumpkin Soup! I love to make soups, it’s so easy to make, healthy and you have food for a couple of days. One hour in the kitchen and you have six meals; that is what I call efficient. You know I’m Dutch, but love the orange color of this so tasty filling dinner soup. I always add a lot of herbs to the soup, to make it more exotic and tasty. I top it with proteins (chicken and goat cheese) which are good after my gym workout.
Pumpkin is a super healthy vegetable, like many orange or red vegetables it contains a lot of vitamin A. Next to vitamin A it also has a large doses of vitamin C, B (1, 2, 3, 5, 6 & 11) and E. All vitamins that have an antioxidant effect (A, C and E) occur to a large extent in pumpkin. Next to the vitamins it is rich in minerals too like; copper, iron, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, magnesium. No wonder why they say it is the cheapest superfood there is!! Check this Pumpkin Soup food blog and others for more information and inspirations!
If you don’t eat all the soup at once, it is perfect to put in the freezer for another day or three. I normally freeze half of the soup in separate plastic containers; I do the same with the chicken mince. This way I always have a healthy and tasty meal ready!
Pumpkin Soup: What ingredients do you need for six portions?
- 60 minutes of your time
- Bowls: 6 (for example; 3 to serve and 3 containers to freeze)
- Big stew pan
- Small frying pan
- Blender
- Pumpkin: 1 piece
- Carrot: 1 big piece
- White union: 2 pieces
- Garlic: 5 garlic cloves
- Red chili pepper: 1 piece
- Vegetable broth: 2 blocks/cubes
- Water: 1-1,5 liter
- Laurel: 3 dried leaves
- Olive oil: 4 tablespoons
- Salt & Pepper: 2 teaspoons of both
- Cumin: 2 tablespoons
- Turmeric: 2 tablespoons
- Chili flakes: 1 teaspoon
- Cayenne pepper: 2 teaspoons
Topping
- Chicken minced: 75-100 per bowl (total 450-600 gr)
- Salt and Pepper to spice the chicken (I used spicy paprika-powder too)
- Olive oil: 1 teaspoon to fry 1 portion of the chicken
- Goat cheese: 30 gr/ two small slices per bowl (total 300 gr)
- Optional: coriander
- Optional: toasted bread
How to make this Pumpkin Soup?
Cut the pumpkin in half with a big knife and get the seeds and fibers out. Cut the pumpkin in small cubes of 1 to 1,5 cm. I leave the skin on the pumpkin; this saves a lot of hassle and it doesn’t harm the taste. Clean the carrot and cut it in 1 cm slices and then in half. Clean the unions and cut them in half and then in slices. Take the stew pan and heat up the olive oil. Put all the vegetables you just cut into the stew and fry and stir now and then for about 7 minutes. In the meantime you can clean the garlic and cut in not too tiny parts, clean the chili (take the seeds out) and cut in semi small parts. You will blend all afterwards so no need to cut all very small; saves time!
When the vegetables are a bit fried and brown add the (boiled) water into the stew. I always use as much water that the vegetables are even or just below the water; this will probably be about 1 to 1, 5 liter. Add all the herbs to the stew: broth cubes, garlic, chili pepper and flakes, laurel, turmeric, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Stir, till all ingredients are mixed. Cook for about 15 to 20 minutes till all vegetables are ready and soft; if not all are soft (carrots take the longest) its fine too; you will blend them in a minute. Don’t forget to take the laurel out of the stew first!!! Take the blender and blend till you have a smooth soup. Taste and check if you need to add more of the herbs to satisfy your preference; but it already tasted very good right!?
If you like to make the topping too, you can already start frying the chicken mince in olive oil and add the herbs and fry them really crispy. That is what I like best, all the different textures and flavors in this soup. Cut the coriander. Take the bowls you like to serve and spoon the soup into the bowls; put the crispy chicken on top and crumple the soft, creamy goat cheese on top of the chicken and finish with the coriander. You can eat the soup with bread, but for me this is filling enough; without too many carbohydrates but enough proteins!
Enjoy this Orange Healthy Beautiful Dinner Soup !!! “Eet Smakelijk”
Ready for more dinner recipes check here!
