pumpkin and parmesan soup revisited

pumpkin and parmesan soup

When I don't post a recipe on this blog, it is highly unlikely that it is ever because I am not eating. Heaven forbid! It is simply because much of the time I fall back on recipes that I have blogged about before. OK, sometimes it is because I actually forget to photograph things in the feeding frenzy. On other occasions I have cooked, but the photograph I have taken looks so unappealing that even our voracious and undiscerning young foxes would turn up their noses.

While appearances may be deceptive I wouldn't want to inflict you with a picture of something rejected (if only in my imagination) by our hungry local troublemakers.

But it is pumpkin season right now and while I was looking around for one of my favourite pumpkin soup recipes, (with Parmesan cheese), I realised that the one I had posted early on in the lifespan of this blog, didn't actually have a photograph. Hurrah. Not only an opportunity to cook the soup again and to photograph it, but to also tweak it a little. And lord knows, I do love to tweak my recipes.

So my new improved pumpkin and parmesan soup has white wine and fresh thyme but no cream, but I think much better for all that and is the perfect warming meal on a damp (and right now, monsoon-like) day and best served with loads of Parmesan and some crusty bread.

Serves 5-6
Skill level: Easy

ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
25g butter
1 x onion, finely chopped
3 x garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1kg pumpkin or butternut squash, de-seeded and cut into chunks
2 x bay leaves
a sprig of fresh thyme
a glass of white wine
1 litre vegetable or chicken stock
50g Parmesan, grated
15g Parmesan rind (optional) + thin shavings of Parmesan to serve
olive or hazelnut oil, to serve (optional)

directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium to low heat. Add the butter. When melted, add the onion and gently fry until softened (about 5 to 10 minutes). Add the garlic and pumpkin and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
2. Add the bay leaves and thyme, then the stock and wine. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes before adding the grated Parmesan and Parmesan rind if using. Bring the soup back to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes until the pumpkin is completely softened.
3. Set aside to cool slightly.
4. When the soup has cooled, remove the bay leaves, thyme twig and Parmesan rind.
5. Blend the soup until smooth. Return the soup to the pan (which has been rinsed out) over a medium to low heat. If the soup is very thick, you may need to add a little more stock or water to thin it out. Reheat gently until hot.
6. To serve, top with a shaving of Parmesan or drizzle over a little oil if using.

tip:

• Don’t throw out dried out remnants of Parmesan, as they add additional flavour to soups and stews. (After they have been stewing away for an hour or so, the rinds completely soften up and I rather like chewing on them . . . the cook has got to have some treats!)

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