Let's not go in denial here. October is World's Pumpkin Month and that the way it is. After accepting it and finally resigning - with an unexpectedly fierce enthusiasm! - to the ongoing 'pumpkin rush', we may find ourselves burried in stocked with excessive amounts of pumpkin leftovers. This soup is the perfect excuse for either getting rid of them... or to buy more pumpkin! The addition of potato brings substance to the cream, while zucchini plays along its squash counterpart for freshness. Infused with real saffron and a hint of ginger, this soup hits a sweet spot between the traditional and the exotic, the savoury and the sweet, and is hence sure to please even the pickiest palate. True flavourful comfort food.
As October gets colder and November closes in, the yearly pumpkin fever is now at its peak. This is particularly acute among food bloggers, who I can only imagine have their feeds just as cluttered with pumpkin as me. But pumpkin has also made its way into lunch menus all around the city, let it be in the traditional soup, an attempt at a modern interpretation of the first with the addition of a pungent ginger note, or chopped up and heaped over rice on a coconut milk curry sauce.
Back when I lived with my family in Portugal, we would never make savoury pumpkin cream, for the single and fair reason that sweet pumpkin cream is a really strong tradition back home. Pumpkin was just meant to be sweet and taste like cinnamon, and that was okay for me. Savoury pumpkin soup is not that common in Portugal, anyway.
However, when I moved to Germany - it was late September, - there was pumpkin soup everywhere. I thought it was delicious, but always a bit too heavy on the salt. Seriously.. while German food is usually on the low salt side, sometimes even bland, I've never eaten any saltier soups! Sometimes I feel like I need to drink water while I'm... eating soup.
A little frustrated with the fact that I have failed, for three Octobers so far, to find any pumpkin cream of my liking around here, I've decided the time had come to make my own.
~
creme de abóbora com gengibre e açafrão,
com croutons de alho e limão e sementes de sésamo.
(serve dois)
(serve dois)
200g de
abóbora sem casca nem pevides, cortada em cubos
250g de
batata descascada, cortada em cubos
200g de
courgette, lavada e cortada em cubos
80g de
cebola, descascada e cortada em quartos
1 cm de
gengibre, descascada
5 filamentos
de açafrão vermelho
1 colher de
chá de óleo de côco
1 pitada de
caril
sal a gosto
(croutons)
2 fatias de
pão sem glúten cortadas em cubinhos
umas gotas
de sumo de limão
uma pitada
de alho seco
uma pitada
de manjericão seco
azeite
sementes de
sésamo para servir
Colocar
todos os legumes numa panela com cerca de 0,5 a 1 litro de água e levar ao lume
a cozer até estarem tenros. Escorrer, reservando a água de cozedura. Passar
muito bem os legumes com uma varinha mágica e voltar a incorporar a água de
cozedura até obter a consistência desejada. Levar novamente ao lume para
aquecer bem.
Para fazer
os croutons, misturar bem todos os ingredientes com a excepção do azeite. Levar
a tostar ligeiramente em azeite.
Servir a
sopa finalizando com os croutons e as sementes de sésamo.
~
ginger saffron pumpkin soup,
with garlic lemon croutons and sesame seeds.
(serves two)
(serves two)
200g red kuri pumpkin, peeled and cored, diced
250g potatoes, peeled and diced
200g zucchini, washed and diced
80g onion, peeled and cut in quarters
1 cm ginger, peeled
5 stems red saffron
1 tsp coconut oil
1 pinch of curry
salt
(croutons)
2 slices gluten-free bread, diced
1 tbsp lemon juice
a pinch of dried garlic
a pinch of dried basil
olive oil
sesame seeds, to decorate
Place all ingredients in a pot with about 0,5 to 1L of water and boil over medium heat until tender. Drain, collecting the water and putting it aside. Blend the vegetables and mix the collected water into the puree until reaching the desired consistency. Place back over the stove top to warm up well over medium heat.
For the croutons, toss all ingredients together, give it a whisk and slightly toast it over hot olive oil in a pan.
Serve the soup topped with the croutons and the sesame seeds.
~
hope you're having a nice pumpkin season!
inês
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