Spicy Pumpkin Soup- Student Favourite

I like to cook almost every night, depending on how much study I have to get done or how tired I am from carting around books and attending lectures on opposite sides of a huge campus... So when it comes to making soup, I'm a lover. Why? Because you can freeze soup so when you know you're in for a long day, you can get home and simply defrost a container of deliciousness. Not to mention you can make your soup as healthy or as indulgent and naughty as you like. Being someone who loves all things clean, healthy, organic and wholesome, I like to make my soups tasting naughty on my tastebuds but showing no trace on my hips. Who doesn't love that!? It sounds ideal for winter months.... but summer soups? Many cringe at the idea, especially if you live in a place like Australia when the summer heat can be brutal. But soups in summer are kind of perfect to me. I'm not talking about chunky chicken soup with pasta and potatoes and all those (delicious) carbohydrates. I'm talking about light, refreshing, gorgeously smooth and somewhat spicy soups. I was craving one last night, so I made my beloved Spicy Pumpkin Soup. Irresistibly simple and quick, perfect for a warm summer's evening.



You'll need:

1 butternut pumpkin, seeds and skin removed, chopped into small pieces
1 litre of vegetable stock
2 large garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
Cracked pepper
1 big teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper (omit this if you're not into spice, but it's really not that strong)
1 teaspoon of Cumin
Small tub of light creme fraiche

Start Cooking:

Bring 1 litre of vegetable stock to the boil, reduce to a medium heat and add pumpkin and garlic.
Cover and bring back to the boil for 5 minutes.
Reduce heat again and simmer until the pumpkin is soft.
Once soft, take off the heat and add Nutmeg, Cayenne Pepper, Cumin and Pepper, and stir well.
Add a small tablespoon of creme fraiche, mix.

Blending time:
You need to blend your pumpkin pieces together, and the easiest way to do this is allow the soup to cool a bit and then blend it in a food processor or generic blender. Alternatively, you can get a hand held blender stick (you know the ones) and blend it by hand, however this is very time consuming and quite frankly, 'ain't nobody got time for that'.

Last bits:
Once blended, return to the pot and return to the heat. Warm it up a bit and serve with a little creme fraiche if you're feeling naughty and some fresh parsley. Of course, you could have your soup with bread and butter, but that is cheating the 'healthy' and 'light'  aim of this recipe. However, I am not your mother, if you want bread, by all means have bread :)



Enjoy in Summer or Winter.

PS. If you're a student like me, this is just as amazing after being frozen and defrosted for the nights when it feels like your brain has been rammed by a freight train and cooking seems as strenuous as running a 10km marathon in stilettos. You know the feeling.

Much love xx