I have a very similar soup to this using parsnip on the blog but I’ve actually made it many more times using pumpkin so thought I should really share this recipe too! The roasting garlic and pumpkin fill your house with the most delicious winters smells.

I always chop up a bit of Parmesan rind and add this to the soup to intensify the Parmesan flavour, it’s also a great way to use up every inch of cheese and be waste free. You can keep Parmesan rind in ur freezer to add to stocks and soups whenever you please.

The flavours in this soup are classic and really enriched by roasting the pumpkin and garlic first. It makes things take longer but is definitely worth it for the deeper flavour. This soup, freezes well too so you could always make a double batch and freeze some for emergency lunches. And by emergency I mean when you go out for dinner and haven’t organised lunch and don’t want that week day meal out to also mean you have to buy lunch! If you batch cook to prepare your lunches then this isn’t an issue for you your organised human. So just make this soup as part of your batch cooking adventures!

Serves 4

Ingredients

1.5 kg butternut pumpkin, seeds and skin removed

4 sprigs of thyme plus 1 Tbs of leaves

4 cloves of garlic, skin on

1 tsp chilli flakes

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1.5 cups roughly chopped celery

1/2 cup finely sliced spring onion or 2 shallots

1.5 litres vegetable stock por chicken bone broth if not vegetarian

3 inch piece of Parmesan rind, roughly chopped

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Chop the pumpkin into 3cm squares and toss with 1/2 the oil. Spread evenly on your prepared tray and then add the garlic, thyme, chilli flakes and a good pinch of salt. Roast in the preheated oven for 30, minutes or until starting to colour.

Meanwhile, heat a large saucepan on medium heat, once hot add the Celery, thyme leaves and onion and sauté until softened. Turn off the heat until the pumpkin is ready and then turn the heat on to medium and add the pumpkin, Parmesan rind and 1.25 litres of stock, squeeze the garlic out and add that too.

Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer, simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the Parmesan and use a stick blender to blend until smooth. Add the remaining stock if you’d like it thinner – I find it can depend on your pumpkin how much you’ll need. Heat it first! Season to taste and serve.

HH. x