Friday, May 19, 2006
Creamy Pumpkin Soup
It's Friday once again and I was really looking forward to an evening in the kitchen. I had nothing to cook so I was going to go shopping during my lunch break. I had a very romantic image in my head: Cycle through sunny Clontarf stopping at the fishmonger's and the greengrocer's along the way to pick up some asparagus and sea trout and, for a while, forget about the rain and work and everything else that is dragging me down. The mere thought of crunchy green asparagus spears and deep pink trout fillets lifted my spirits.But, as my use of the past tense in this first paragraph indicates, life had other things planned for me. By late morning the soothing morning sun had disappeared and thick clouds were brewing overhead. At lunchtime the sky looked like an angry giant about to explode in a deafening roar. The appeal of the food was still stronger than my reluctance to get soaked, but I must admit that my enthusiasm for a shopping trip was waning. All the easier it was for me to abandon my plans when a colleague offered to drive me and my bicycle into town after work (so I would still make it before the shops there shut) in return for me joining her for lunch. This decision turned out to be a bad mistake. Lunch was horrible and as it turned out I could not ride with her after all. 5 minutes before I was due to clock off she remembered that her car was packed full of gardening tools. So there I was again cycling home in the pouring rain with no dinner and too late to shop. I was slightly frustrated, but what can you do? Get out the leftovers and get on with it!
400g pumpkin, roughly grated
a good pinch of salt
30g butter
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
20g tomato paste (about 1 heaped tablespoon)
1 tsp paprika
a few dashes of white wine vinegar
1 bay leaf
1 litre chicken stock
grated nutmeg and salt to taste
100 ml cream
1 bunch of dill, finely chopped
roasted pumpkin seeds or fresh croutons to serve
Lightly salt the pumpkin and set aside for about ½ hour, then squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can.
Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Sweat the garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Do not allow it to brown! Add the pumpkin and gently fry for 1 minute. Now stir in the tomato paste and continue frying for a minute or two, stirring constantly. Be careful not to burn the tomato. Dust the pumpkin with the paprika and immediately add the vinegar. Don't be slow here, otherwise the paprika might go bitter. Now add the bay leaf and slowly pour in the chicken stock.
Boil gently for about 15 minutes. Purée. (Don't skip this last step. Once I was too lazy to purée the soup and thought that it would make no difference. It did and I had the extra work of puréeing after I had already dished up once. The flavour of the pumpkin is much better in a smooth soup). Add the dill and season to taste with nutmeg and salt. Pour in the cream and gently reheat. Do not bring to soup to the boil again. Serve with pumpkin seeds and crusty white bread or homemade croutons.
By the way, if you do not like dill and/or nutmeg or are cooking for a special occasion, omit the dill and nutmeg and add a teaspoonful of truffle butter to the bowl right before serving. Don't add it to the soup, the flavour is too volatile to last.
Christine at 12:23 am
2 Comments
-
at 10:11 am
rino breebaart said... - good site, good presentation, you're in the wrong career! I might have to poach your writing skills for a little side-project of my own.
Ah food, the last resort of the unhappy and dublin-winter-depressives...
Can you make something involving cognac some time? I'd like that.
rino -
at 8:16 pm
Christine said...
- Hi rino,
I'll look out for some cognac recipes. I love a challege! ;o)
