It’s that season again when pumpkins are everywhere. Carving pumpkins with the children for Halloween is a charming tradition, but it seems a real shame, and very unthrifty, to throw away the insides. This pumpkin soup recipe, courtesy of AGA, provides the perfect solution. It’s also very good for warming chilly trick-or-treaters… Ingredients 1 medium pumpkin Olive oil 1 large onion (peeled and chopped) 2 cloves of garlic (crushed) 1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock 260ml double cream Salt and freshly ground black pepper For the croutons: 4 slices of white bread
Method Cut off the top of the pumpkin to form a lid for your lantern. Remove the flesh from inside the pumpkin and discard the seeds. Chop up the pulp. Heat the olive oil in large, heavy saucepan (with a lid if using an AGA) over a low heat or on the AGA simmering plate. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft, but not browned. Add the pumpkin flesh and stock and bring to the boil over a high heat or on the AGA boiling plate. Simmer for about 10 minutes. If you’re using an AGA, then pop the lid on and transfer the pan to the simmering oven for around 30 minutes. If using a conventional cooker, allow the soup to continue cooking on the hob for another 20-30 minutes until the pumpkin is cooked through. Remove the soup from the heat and then whizz in a liquidiser until it’s completely smooth; you’ll need to do this in batches. Return the smooth soup to a clean pan and stir in the cream, then re-heat and season with salt and pepper. To make the croutons, toast the bread and remove the crusts, then cut out suitably scary shapes with a cookie cutter, try cats, moons, stars and witches’ hats. Finally, put the soup into bowls and pop in the croutons so they float on top. Recipe from AGA, visit www.agaseason.co.uk for more details.