Pumpkins in the UK have been a bit of an education for me. Where I grew up, pumpkins came in one size: big. And they had thick, hard-to-cut-through skin and bright, dark orange flesh, and tasted… well, like pumpkin. Here I find pumpkins come with thin skins, and light flesh that doesn’t taste like a whole lot of anything, so I normally try to mix some butternut squash in for a bigger hit of flavour if I’m making a soup.
I think it may vary again in other places because I have read on US boards that they say the smaller pumpkins have more taste than the bigger ones, but this certainly isn’t my experience. In South Africa, we used to make pumpkin fritters, and they definitely were bright orange and tasted of pumpkin!
The smaller pumpkins are very easy to cut, though, and to scoop out, so they make a convenient soup bowl if you’re making this recipe for two – three people.
I love fresh sage, lightly fried in butter to crumble over this, but I can’t always find fresh sage. Never mind. If you like chillies you can add some spice to this soup too, and if you have a bit of spare time, sautee an onion first and add it at the start with the rest of the ingredients. If you have fresh or homemade chicken stock, that’s even better than a stock cube too.
Pumpkin and Parmesan Soup
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3 servings
If you’re able to find fresh sage, lightly fry the leaves in butter till the edges go brown, and sprinkle over the soup for a crunchy, tasty topping. 2
Ingredients
700 – 800g Pumpkin or Butternut Squash, cut into cubes
20 – 50g Parmesan Cheese
1 Chicken or Veggie Stock Cube
250g Water
1 Teaspoon Sage
1 Teaspoon Garlic Granules (or 1 Fresh Clove of Garlic, crushed and sauteed)
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Pepper to Taste
Instructions
Add everything except the pepper to the Thermomix Bowl
Put the MC in place, and hold it down while you liquidise – 30 seconds/ speed 10
Turn the heat up to Varoma/15 mins/speed 3. Keep the MC in.
This soup came about because I really don’t like a chunky soup. Contrary to popular belief this isn’t because of the texture, but rather is because I get bored half way through a bowl of same tasting bite after bite. And by the time you’ve boiled your vegetables long enough to extract the flavour into the broth, every bite tastes the same.
I prefer a deconstructed soup. It’s still hearty, filling, healthy, but it looks much prettier since everything retains it’s colour and shape, and every bite is a mini-adventure.
Take this soup for example. Butternut soup with lardons, sage and Grana Padano cheese.
The first bite has a little bit of lardon and a small sliver of sage. It’s tasty. The next bite, has a hint of garlic, and a bit of onion along with the butternut, and tastes homey. The following spoon picks up a large piece of melted cheese, and the rich full flavour of Grana Padano accompanies the butternut down my throat. The next spoon hits a pocket of sage butter, and provides a whole other taste to any of the previous bites – and next it’s just a plain spoon of butternut, that almost cleanses your palet. And so it goes, on and on.
Well, it works for me, and I hope you like it too!
For this soup I like to roast the butternut squash. While you can just go ahead and make it from an uncooked butternut squash, which gives it a fresh flavour, I find a roasted butternut squash has so much more depth to it. It’s definitely worth the extra 40 or so minutes.
Deconstructed Butternut Squash Soup
Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Italian
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3 -4
It may seem a little fiddly, but for this soup you need to roast the butternut squash. Once it’s cooked, boil the soup for 15 minutes, while at the same time cooking the lardons and sage leaves for 10 minutes each. Slice up the cheese and everything should be ready at the same time.
Ingredients
1 Butternut Squash
4 Garlic cloves
1 Onion
250ml chicken stock
30g butter
10 sage leaves
75g pasta
140g bacon lardons
50g Grana Padano shards
pepper to taste
olive oil to drizzle
Instructions
Cut the butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds.
Peel four garlic cloves and put them inside the hollowed out butternut squash.
Drizzle a good quality olive oil over the butternut squash, place on an oven tray and bake at 200C for about 40 mins till it’s soft all the way through. Set aside to cool slighly, then chop into rough chunks. If it’s a young butternut squash you can keep the skin, but if it’s older, discard.
In the Thermomix
Add the onion and baked garlic cloves to the Thermomix and chop 3 seconds/speed 4.
Cook for 3 minutes/100C/Speed 1
Add the chicken stock and butternut squash, and cook 15 mins/speed 4
Meanwhile in a pan, fry the bacon lardons until they are crispy, about 10 minutes.
In another, smaller pan, melt 30g butter, and add the sage leaves. Gently fry for about 10 minutes on low heat until the butter is browned and the leaves are crispy.
Thinly slice ‘shards’ of the Grana Padano cheese.
To serve, dish up the soup, making sure to get some pasta in each bowl and sprinkle cheese over. On the side, serve lardons, additional cheese chards and the sage leaves.
Drizzle the sage butter over the butternut squash soup, and serve.
Regular Instructions
Chop and slice the onions and garlic, and saute for about 10 mins in suitable suit pot, till translucent.
Add the chicken stock and butternut squash, and cook for about 15 minutes on medium heat.
Meanwhile in a pan, fry the bacon lardons until they are crispy, about 10 minutes.
In another, smaller pan, melt 30g butter, and add the sage leaves. Gently fry for about 10 minutes on low heat until the butter is browned and the leaves are crispy.
Thinly slice ‘shards’ of the Grana Padano cheese.
To serve, dish up the soup, making sure to get some pasta in each bowl and sprinkle cheese over. On the side, serve lardons, additional cheese chards and the sage leaves.
Drizzle the sage butter over the butternut squash soup, and serve.
