Pumpkin and Chorizio Soup

Soup is possibly the quickest and easiest way to make use of pumpkin flesh and this one is super tasty. Sweet pumpkin and spicy chorizio are a winning combination and this warming soup is packed with intense flavours. A hug in a bowl Ideal for Halloween and Bonfire Night.

'Tis the season for Pumpkins. I've said it before I'd I'll keep saying it but we really do need to realise that pumpkins are a valuable source of food and not just for decoration. There’s more than enough flesh to do both. 1.8 million pumpkins were carved in Scotland for Halloween last year with over 1.1 million thrown away. That’s enough pumpkins to stretch from Edinburgh to Stornoway. A truly frightening amount of food waste. 

If you are purely going to be cooking, and not carving your pumpkin the easiest way to prepare it is to cut it into quarters or wedges before removing the stringy innards and seeds, then cut off the peel and chop up the flesh. If you also want to carve it you'll need to remove the top, then scoop out the seedy innards. Removing as much of the flesh as you can will give you plenty to make a soup with and will also make carving so much easier as the walls will be thinner. A win win situation. I've found that the easiest way to remove flesh is to use a melon baller. A grapefruit knife also works well as does a pumpkin scraper or if nothing else is available a large spoon and/or sharp knife will do the job.

Pumpkin and Chorizio Soup

Serves 4

1 large onion, finely chopped

100g Chorizio, roughly chopped

500g Pumpkin flesh (I used a Winter Luxury from Udny Pumpkins)

2 Chicken Stock Cubes

150ml single cream

Garnish

Pumpkin seeds

Chorizio, finely chopped

Place a soup pot over a medium heat and add the chopped onion and chorizio. Fry until the chorizio releases its oils and colours the onion.

Add the pumpkin flesh and pour in 1 litre of boiling water.

Crumble in the two stock cubes and bring to the boil.

Turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender.

Using a stick blender blitz the soup thoroughly to give a smooth texture and add salt and pepper if required.

Add the cream and gently heat through.

Meanwhile fry the pumpkin seeds and chorizio in a small pan and use as a garnish.

♥ Pin me for later...