Pumpkin, saffron & orange soup

November 7, 2018

We just keep going back to Simple. I was keen for a soup and this pumpkin one was the pick of the small selection in the book. It all takes a bit of time - you've got to do a bunch of chopping and roasting before you even get to the soup making. It's worth it though. This is probably the best pumpkin soup recipe we've made - the creaminess of the crème fraiche is nicely balanced by the twin punches of the orange zest and chilli. The roasted pumpkin seeds were the star of the show though - so simple and so, so delicious. You could just make them as a snack. They work brilliantly with this soup though - we'll definitely make it again.

Pumpkin, saffron & orange soup

(from Yotam Ottolenghi's Simple)

60ml olive oil

2 onions, sliced into 2cm wedges

1.2kg of butternut pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into 3cm cubes
1 litre of vegetable stock

2 tablespoons harissa (we just used a chilli paste, because we couldn't track down harissa in the supermarket)

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads

zest of 1 orange

180g crème fraiche

parsley leaves to garnish
salt and pepper

80g pumpkin seeds

2 teaspoons maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Mix the pumpkin seeds, syrup and chilli flakes in a small bowl with a sprinkle of salt. Spread them on a lined baking tray and roast for 15 minutes until they starting to brown. Set aside to cool.

Turn the oven up to 220°C.

Combine the oil, onion and pumpkin in a large bowl with a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Mix well and then lay them out on a baking tray. Roast for 25 minutes until everything softens up nicely and then take them out of the oven and set aside.

Put the stock, harissa, saffron, orange zest and some more salt and pepper into a big pot. Bring it all to the boil and then add in the pumpkin, onions and baking oil. Stir, reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes.

Take everything off the heat, stir in the crème fraiche and then blend it all up with a hand blender.

Serve, topped with pumpkin seeds and parsley.