Serves 10
Earth Day. Thank you, Earth. This deeply earthy, sweet, tangy, spicy and comforting soup is an ode to you. Just what we all need. It’s vegan, too - made only from the earth and, naturally, better for the planet. Even better, when the vegetables come from our good friends at OOOBY - who deliver boxes full of organic, seasonal produce to drool over.
And it goes GREAT with CITIZEN sourdough beer bread.
THE ROASTING
1.7kg pumpkin, skinned and deseeded
1 t salt
6 T olive oil
4 brown onions, chopped roughly
2 bulbs of garlic, chopped in half
8 bay leaves
Zest of 2 lemons
4 inches of ginger, peeled and grated
ON THE STOVE TOP
¼ c lemon juice
1 t heaped cardamom seeds, toasted and ground (def not pods)
1 can coconut milk, not light
5 c chicken or vegetable stock
1 fresh chilli, chopped roughly – optional
Salt to taste
THE CREAM (make this while the roasting happens)
1 T pink peppercorns
1 c coriander leaves and stalks, packed firmly
1/3 c toasted sesame seeds
1 c coconut milk
Salt to taste
TO SERVE
Extra pink peppercorns
METHOD
Combine and roast The Roasting ingredients in your Old Dutch pot at 230°C for 40 minutes, stirring once to distribute the heat.
On the stove top, add the Stove Top ingredients to the roasted pumpkin and simmer for 10 minutes until the pumpkin has broken down. Remove the bay leaves and blend with a stick mixer until smooth. Have a taste. Does it need more salt? More zing? Make it your own.
For the cream, blend all of the ingredients in your high speed blender until smooth. Let it rest for 15 minutes to thicken.
Right at the end, drizzle 5 T of the coriander cream over the soup then use the end of a spoon to make a whirly pattern. Scatter with extra pink peppercorns. And serve hot to the table with crusty CITIZEN sourdough beer bread.
And give thanks to OOOBY for delivering the freshest organic produce to your door.
