I know I keep on about Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries - it just seems to have hit a culinary nerve - but here is a recipe, in keeping with today's Pumpkin theme, recorded under February 20th.
Spiced Pumpkin Soup With Bacon
- a medium onion
- 2 plump cloves of garlic
- 50g butter
- 900g pumpkin
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 2 small dried chillies
- 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
- 4 rashers smoked bacon
- 100ml single cream
Peel and roughly chop the onion. Peel and slice the garlic. Melt the butter and cook both onion and garlic until soft and translucent. Peel the pumpkin, remove the stringy bits and seeds and discard them with the peel. Chop into rough cubes and add to the onion. Cook until the pumpkin is golden brown at the edges.
Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a small pan over a very low heat for about 2 minutes until the start to smell warm and nutty. Grind the roasted spices and add them with the crumble chillies to the onion and pumpkin. Cook for a minute or so then add the stock. Simmer for 20 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.
Fry the bacon in the pan in which you toasted the spices. It should be crisp. Cut into small pieces with scissors. Whiz the soup in a blender or processor until smooth. Pour in the cream and add salt and pepper as necessary. Return to the pan and bring almost to the boil. Serve piping hot with the bacon bits scattered on top. Serves 4.
[Photo Andrew Barrow]
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