August 23, 2007: Roasted pumpkin and shallot soup

The extraction of Cindy's wisdom teeth has meant that we've been on a liquid-food diet for the weekend. To make sure that she had food available on Friday evening, we spent Thursday night in the kitchen: she whipping up her Indian mango pudding, and me having a crack at a pumpkin soup recipe from Ken Charney's The Bold Vegetarian Chef.

The recipe had a few quirks compared to regular pumpkin soup - not least the incorporation of a roasted pear. I was uncertain whether the pear was going to have any impact on the overall flavour (it was 1 smallish pear in amongst a kilo of pumpkin after all) and speculated that it may have just been a gimmick to make Ken's recipe sound exotic. It turns out I was wrong, the pear (along with a decent splash of lemon juice) added a level of unexpected sweetness to the pumpkin and shallots, to the point that this savoury option turned out to be a little on the sweet side given Cindy's limited food choices. The recipe also suggested a couple of crispy garnishes (fried sage leaves and roasted pumpkin seeds) that we skipped to avoid any unpleasant chewing issues.

Roasted pumpkin and shallot soup
4 shallots
1 pear, peeled, cored and chopped
1 - 1.5kg pumpkin
2 teaspoons dried sage
olive oil
200g silken tofu
4 cups vegie stock
juice of one lemon

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.

Chop the shallots coarsely and toss with the pear, the dried sage and a teaspoon of olive oil.

Bake the shallot/pear mix and the pumpkin (cut it in half if you didn't buy pre-chopped chunks). The pear and shallots probably take about 25 minutes, while the pumpkin takes a bit longer - say 35. You want it to be nice and soft all the way through.

Once everything is baked, peel off the pumpkin skin and mix together the pumpkin flesh with the pear and shallots, along with the stock, tofu and some salt and pepper. You can add a 1/2 cup of wine or a splash of vinegar here as well if you feel like it.

Blend up the mix in batches in a food processor until it's a smooth, non-chewable consistency and put the whole lot in a large saucepan over low heat on the stove. Simmer for about 10 minutes and add in the lemon juice (along with more salt and pepper if required) and then simmer for a final few minutes. Depending on how your mouth is working - serve either with crusty bread or a frustratingly small teaspoon.