RECIPE: Comforting Pumpkin and Apple Soup

Pumpkins are in excess this time of year, especially if you've embarked on the annual event of pumpkin picking. I've already published a recipe for Pumpkin and Chicken Pie with a Halloween Twist, which you can read here, so today I thought I'd bring you one of my favourite pumpkin soup recipes. It's comforting, warm and perfect for these cooler autumnal days. I've packed it full of goodness with loads of vegetables and the addition of apple makes this soup slighter sweeter. I love picking apples from our garden and visiting a pumpkin patch for the pumpkin; you don't get much fresher ingredients than that. It is also the perfect opportunity to discuss where the ingredients come from with Isabella, which she finds so interesting. 

If you don't have any of the addition ingredients (parsnip, carrots, leeks), then these could always be swapped with onions, potato, swede or most other root vegetables. That's why I love making soup, you can make it just how you like it. When I make a big batch of this for the freezer I'll use a low salt stock cube, so that it is toddler friendly too. Soup makes the perfect autumn lunch for the whole family, especially when paired with fresh bread for 'dip dip', as Isabella would say.

What you'll need:

800g Pumpkin, peeled and cubed (about a medium sized pumpkin)

1 Vegetable stock cube

1 Leek, sliced

1 large Apple, cored and chopped

3 Parsnips, peeled and chopped

2 Carrots, peeled and chopped

Boiling water

Fresh sage, chopped and to taste

Black pepper

Toasted pumpkin seeds

What to do:

1) Place a large saucepan on a medium heat and add either 1 tsp olive oil or FryLight. Then add the leeks and fry for 5 minutes. 

2) Add in the fresh sage and black pepper and cook for a further 1 minute.

3) Next, the parsnips and carrots go in to be cooked for 10 minutes. Make sure you keep stirring to stop them from catching. 

4) Add in the pumpkin, enough boiling water to cover the vegetables and crumble in the stock cube. Bring to a steady simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes.

5) Stir in the chopped apples and cook for a further 10 minutes. Make sure all of the vegetables are cooked through at this point.

6) While the soup is cooking toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan for topping the soup with. 

7) Depending on the texture you like prefer you could either enjoy the soup as it is, blitz it until it's smooth or do what I did and blitz half. This keeps a bit of the texture, but results in a creamier comforting soup.

8) Fill a bowl with the soup, sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds and enjoy with a wedge of crusty bread or crispy crackers. 

What's your favourite autumnal soup? 

Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :)

Helen x