Spiced Pumpkin Soup

I decided to make pumpkin soup from one of the larger pumpkins grown in the veg garden.

It was a large pumpkin so I made up a gallon of soup, some for now but most for the freezer.

I found the recipe in my favourite cookery book, Ballymaloe Cookery Course. I love this book so much that I bought several extra copies to be given as gifts for family. I followed the basic foundation of this recipe and then went a stray, with yummy results!

I went out to the garden and brought in the main ingredients; pumpkin, tomatoes and onion. I picked some herbs on route and cut a bulb of garlic from the plait hung over the range.

Ingredients

Large pumpkin

4-6 onions

2-3 cloves of garlic

500g fresh tomatoes

1 litre chicken stock

Sprig of thyme

Butter

Honey

Seasoning

I scoped out the pumpkin seeds and put aside to save the seeds for next year.

Any waste was put into the pigs bucket. 

Using a spoon I removed all the flesh from the pumpkin and put into a large saucepan. 

The boys were delighted with the remaining pumpkin and proceeded to cut out his eyes and month. Mr.Pumpkin was later fed to the pigs.

I added the chopped onions and garlic to the saucepan. Then the sprig of thyme and a generous knob of butter.

I put on the lid and left on the range for an hour to soften. It would take much less on a hob. 

While that was cooking, I washed the fresh tomatoes and sliced them up and then added them into the saucepan.

I made up a litre of bought chicken stock and added that also.

Then I started to season, spoon of home produced honey, sea salt, cumin, mustard seed, pepper until it tasted just right.

I left it on the range for another hour to cook before taking it off and removing the sprig of thyme. I then liquidised the soup and tasted it again to adjust any seasoning needed.

We each had a bowl, yummy! And the rest is in the freezer.

Our freezer is getting quite full now, and a lamb and two pigs to be added shortly. We probably will run out of space!