Roasted Pumpkin and Coconut Soup

It’s soup season! And this roasted pumpkin and coconut soup is the perfect winter warmer to soothe you on colder days. The great thing about soup is you can pretty much chuck any vegetables you like into a pot, boil it up, blitz until smooth and you’ve got a warm bowl of healthy goodness. 

This recipe stemmed from my ski season days as it’s the ideal changeover day starter. You can have it ready and waiting for your guest’s arrival, without worrying whether it will spoil if they’re delayed. 

By roasting the pumpkin, you’ll not only have an easier time removing the skin, but it will add a slightly charred taste to the soup. You will have to allow for roasting time, as it does take a little longer to make, but if you roast the whole pumpkin you can use some wedges for an alternative meal, and avoid a fight with the peeler at the same time!

If you’re not a fan of pumpkin, you can switch it out for butternut squash or 3 – 4 sweet potatoes instead as these will give a similar flavour. Likewise, you can add a combination of vegetables if you’re looking to bulk up the soup or use up more veg. 

Using coconut milk in addition to stock adds a much creamier taste. However, if you prefer to not include it, you can use the equivalent amount of stock as the liquid for the recipe. 

Whatever your combination of vegetables, this roasted pumpkin and coconut soup will give you a great base for a creamy, warming and delicious soup to keep you going throughout the winter.

Serves 6

Vegan & Dairy-free (remove the creme fraiche) 

Prep: 15 minutes

Cooking:  1 hour

Total: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 small pumpkin or ½ medium pumpkin, sliced into wedges

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 small sweet potatoes, roughly chopped (optional)

1 tsp chilli

2 tbsp dried thyme

1 400ml tin coconut milk

1 vegetable stock cube

Roughly 250ml of boiling water

Salt & pepper

Optional: 

1 tsp creme fraiche per bowl

Sliced sourdough bread

Roasted Pumpkin and Coconut Soup Method: 

First, preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a rectangular baking tray with parchment paper.

Using the bottom of the pumpkin as a flat base, cut down one side to reveal a segment and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Place onto its flat edge and using the curves of the pumpkin as a guideline, slice it into thin wedges. Continue with the remaining pumpkin and place the wedges onto the lined tray. Cover the pumpkin in 1 tbsp of oil, 1 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp black pepper and 1 tbsp of dried thyme. Place into the oven for 30 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft in the centre. Put aside when cooked.

While the pumpkin is roasting, prepare the other ingredients. Roughly chop 2 onions and place them into a large saucepan on low-medium heat with a tablespoon of oil. Allow them to sweat (slowly cook without browning) for 5 minutes. Add the roughly chopped garlic, diced sweet potatoes, remaining thyme and chilli flakes and stir. You can start cooking the base of the soup while the pumpkin is roasting, but you’ll need to take the pot off the heat at this point until the pumpkin is cooked and ready to add to the saucepan.

Using a spoon, scoop the soft pumpkin flesh away from its skin and place it into the saucepan. Follow by pouring the tin of coconut milk and vegetable stock cube and cover the ingredients with boiling water.

Next, bring the soup to a boil and then allow to simmer on low-medium heat for 15-20 minutes until everything is soft. Then blitz with a soup stick or blender until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste (sometimes the veg stock carries enough salt so you may not need to add any extra). If you prefer a runnier soup, add more boiling water until you have your desired viscosity – I prefer a thick soup so leave as it is. (You can always make it runnier but it’s much harder to thicken it up, so add a little at a time.)

Finally, spoon into a bowl and serve hot with a teaspoon of crème fraiche and warm sourdough bread.

With darkened evenings and colder weather, this roasted pumpkin and coconut soup will certainly help you survive till spring. 

To view how I make this soup, follow me on Instagram @theardentbakery.

Els x