I'm sure I don't need to teach anyone how to make pumpkin soup. There's no real right or wrong anyway. But here's an easy way to give this winter staple a bit of a lift.
I may have previously mentioned my absolute inability to make soup without protein in it. I've restrained myself this time and only added a ¼ cup of red lentils. It's just too easy to add lentils or other beans to soup. You can't tell they're there, and you've instantly upped the fibre, protein and iron content. And all in the course of spending about 20 cents (in the case of lentils).
I have lots of beautiful walnuts from my father in law lingering in my kitchen at the moment. The only thing that's slowed down their consumption is that I have to shell them, and I don't have a nut cracker, so it's been a case of brute force with the heavy end of the garlic crusher. While the wee babe isn't sleeping. Great way to release some tension though!
Every time I shell some I remind myself just how delicious they are and how much of their natural earthy, creamy sweetness is lost in a supermarket bulk bin.
Walnuts make a fabulous pesto. Fresh herbs are getting a bit thin on the ground in my garden, but there's always parsley. Fortunately walnuts and parsley are a great pair. I do love parmesan in my pesto but that's off the menu right now so I added a little nutritional yeast here to fake a little of that savoury 'cheesiness'.
What's nutritional yeast? A fairly recent discovery for me, it's a mainstay of the vegan cooking world. It has a savoury, slightly cheesy flavour that is wildly popular in all forms of vegan mac 'n cheese. It's an excellent source of B12, which is hard to get enough of in a plant-based diet. Personally, I wouldn't say it tastes much like cheese. But it is tasty. It's available from Bin Inn in New Zealand.
Get the recipe
INGREDIENTS
For the soup:
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 leek chopped
- 10 leaves fresh sage chopped (or 1-2 teaspoon dried)
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- Half a pumpkin peeled and chopped
- ¼ cup red lentils
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the pesto:
- ¼ cup walnuts
- 1 large handful parsley (approx. 1 cup)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast optional
- Salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
For the soup:
- Heat olive oil in a deep saucepan. Add leek, sage and garlic and stir to coat in oil. Cook over a medium heat until the leek has softened and collapsed a bit.
- Add pumpkin, lentils and stock. I add some pepper now too, but wait until later to taste and adjust salt seasoning.
- Simmer for about half an hour, stirring occasionally, or until the pumpkin is soft. The lentils will more or less have disappeared by now.
- Use a jug or stick blender to blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning, and add a little more water if necessary to reach your desired consistency.
For the pesto:
- Use a jug or stick blender, food processor or mortar and pestle to blend ingredients until fairly smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add a little water to thin if it's too thick, or more lemon juice.
- Makes approximately half a cup.
aspoonfulofnature
yummy!! love it 🙂
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