Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater! - Creamy pumpkin soup

October is Pumpkin time!
There was a time when you would have never seen a fresh pumpkin let alone canned, in this country.
Carved pumpkins or even pumpkin pie were mysterious things only seen on American television shows around Thanksgiving and in those scary horror movies that we would watch on Halloween night........Jason is alive!!!!

As a young child, American cultures and traditions had a big influence on our family as my mother, my uncles and my grandmother were all born and raised in the united states.
Even to this day I can still remember my grandmothers spaghetti and meat sauce, her peanut butter cookies, the roast turkey and her special gravy, unlike anything served up in this country, and the creamed corn and fresh cranberry sauce that always went with it, along with pickled vegetables which we still serve on our Christmas dinner table today!

These were the american tastes and flavours of my childhood, never to be forgotten and impossible to recreate......even if you follow her recipes! But for the last few years the American culture surrounding the pumpkin has become part of popular culture here for the season of Halloween, and you can now find huge palettes parked in the veg sections of supermarkets, deep boxes filled to the brim with pumpkins that will be gone well before Halloween night, but exactly what Irish people are doing with their pumpkins is hard to know.

The tradition of the carved pumpkin lantern has taken off and most houses will have a dismembered pumpkin spookily lit by a tea light sitting in a window or on their fireplace, it's eerie glow casting creepy shadows over the party, or sat on their doorstep where it can greet all the trick or treaters and scare next doors cat away with its horrible misshapen grin! but what happens to the best part of the pumpkin? more often than not it I'd say it ends up in the bin!

Ireland is not known for the eating of pumpkin pie or for the making of pumpkin soup or even just serving the tasty flesh as a roasted vegetable or putting it in a casserole, yes sadly we as a country largely ignore this healthy vegetable! although its seeds are tres chichi! and very good for you.

The pumpkin is a member of the squash family, the winter squash that is, and it is one of the most popular crops in the united states. It is certainly a versatile vegetable and can be boiled, baked, roasted, steamed, deep fried in a light tempura batter, served mashed or puréed and even put in a pie.
Surprisingly pumpkin is very popular in India where it is eaten cooked with butter, sugar and spices in a dish called Kadu Ka Halwa.
In China they actually eat the leaves too serving them up something like we do with cabbage.

But the most popular of all is the 'pumpkin pie', available all year round in any good diner, deli, state or county fair pie competition in the US.

Now I'll be the first to admit that making pumpkin pie is an awful lot of work as it involves getting all the flesh out of the pumpkin, cooking the flesh, then mashing it down and turning it into a purée and having to wait for it to cool before you can use it......far too much messing about, unless you want to go for the canned purée instead which can be a little tasteless! so I prefer to use my pumpkin to make a lovely winter soup or in an Autumn version of 'ratatouille'.

This soup is a lovely blend of the pumpkin with some other vegetables, a little kick from the spices and with a brilliant orange colour!

Some people suggest roasting the pumpkin first but I find it loses that vibrant orange if you do.

I prefer to use sweet potato rather than white potato to give the soup a certain smoothness......much healthier! and low GI too!

It is a big batch but it will keep in the fridge for a few days or you can of course freeze it in portions!

You will need:

olive oil or rapeseed oil

400 g peeled pumpkin

150 peeled sweet potato

1 medium onion

200 g peeled carrots

1/2 leek....white part only

2 stalks of celery

1/2 de-seeded red chilli (optional)

1 level teaspoon grated nutmeg

3 litres of chicken or vegetable stock or you can use water

100 mls crème fraiche or single cream

sea salt, fresh milled black pepper

How to:

• chop the onion, carrot, celery & leek quite small and set aside
• de-seed and finely chop the chilli
• cut your clean pumpkin and sweet potato into small chunks....the smaller the better so it will blend easily later on
• in a heavy bottomed, deep pot, heat a little oil and add the carrot, onion, leek and celery, fry lightly for a minute then cover with a lid and turn the heat down, let the veg cook for another minute
• add the chilli, nutmeg, pumpkin and sweet potato, stir around for another minute then cover again, cook for 5 minutes on medium heat
• while that is cooking you can heat your stock or water a little then add it to the pumpkin
• cook for approx 20-30 minutes at a medium simmer or until all the vegetables are soft, then.....
• turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly before blending with a hand blender or in a food processor.......try to avoid scalds at all costs!
• once blended and lovely and silky smooth you can add the cream or crème fraiche, whisk in well
• check for seasoning, add salt and pepper to taste, add a little more nutmeg if you think you need it.......it's all about your own taste preferences at this point!

Serve with some lovely, fresh baked crusty bread,

I like to serve it with large garlicky croutons.

To make a more substantial meal out try adding some whole cooked chickpeas, some diced cooked chicken or what's really delicious is some chopped or shredded smoked ham!