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–+ servings

Pumpkin Soup

Soup, Soups & Stews
Smooth pumpkin soup that tastes deeply savoury and earthy, with sweet notes from the pumpkin balanced by butter and crème fraîche. The nutmeg adds subtle warmth without being obvious, just enough to make you wonder what that background note is. It's rich and velvety, coating your mouth with autumn flavours, roasted pumpkin, butter, cream, without ever feeling heavy.
Pumpkin Soup recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 6

Ingredients 

Equipment

Instructions

  1. 1. Prepare the vegetables
    Start with the worst bit, peeling the pumpkin. Unless you've got potimarron, which brilliantly doesn't need peeling. Cut everything into rough 3cm chunks. The potatoes too. Don't overthink it. They're all getting blended anyway.
  2. 2. Sweat the aromatics
    Melt your butter in the pot over medium heat. When it's foaming, add your chopped onion. Let it go translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. You're not looking for colour here. Add the garlic for the last minute, any longer and it'll burn.
  3. 3. Add the main vegetables
    Tip in all your pumpkin and potato chunks. Give everything a proper stir so it's all coated in that buttery, oniony base. Let it all sweat together for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The edges should just start to soften.
  4. 4. Add liquid and herbs
    Pour in your stock. It should just cover the vegetables, if you need more liquid, use water, not more stock. Drop in your bay leaves and thyme. Bring to a gentle simmer.
  5. 5. Simmer until tender
    Partially cover with a lid and let it bubble away gently for 25-30 minutes. The vegetables should be completely soft, collapsing when prodded with a spoon. Fish out the herbs.
  6. 6. Blend until smooth
    Blend until absolutely, completely smooth. Use a hand blender directly in the pot if you've got one. Otherwise, carefully transfer to a regular blender in batches. We're after velvet here, not rustic chunks.
  7. 7. Finish with cream
    Return to low heat if you've transferred it. Stir in the crème fraîche. Season with salt, white pepper (black shows as specks), and just a dash of nutmeg. Taste and adjust.
  8. 8. Serve properly
    Ladle into warmed bowls. Add croutons if you've made them. A final swirl of cream looks nice if you're trying to impress someone!

Notes

  • The secret's in the texture, blend it longer than you think necessary. Properly smooth makes all the difference.
  • If it's too thick, thin with stock or water. Too thin? Let it reduce with the lid off for 10 minutes.
  • Make it a day ahead if you can, it actually improves overnight.
  • Freezes brilliantly for up to 3 months.
  • And if you can't find crème fraîche, double cream works fine, just use a bit less.