Pumpkins in the UK have been a bit of an education for me. Where I grew up, pumpkins came in one size: big. And they had thick, hard-to-cut-through skin and bright, dark orange flesh, and tasted… well, like pumpkin. Here I find pumpkins come with thin skins, and light flesh that doesn’t taste like a whole lot of anything, so I normally try to mix some butternut squash in for a bigger hit of flavour if I’m making a soup.
I think it may vary again in other places because I have read on US boards that they say the smaller pumpkins have more taste than the bigger ones, but this certainly isn’t my experience. In South Africa, we used to make pumpkin fritters, and they definitely were bright orange and tasted of pumpkin!
The smaller pumpkins are very easy to cut, though, and to scoop out, so they make a convenient soup bowl if you’re making this recipe for two – three people.
I love fresh sage, lightly fried in butter to crumble over this, but I can’t always find fresh sage. Never mind. If you like chillies you can add some spice to this soup too, and if you have a bit of spare time, sautee an onion first and add it at the start with the rest of the ingredients. If you have fresh or homemade chicken stock, that’s even better than a stock cube too.
- 700 - 800g Pumpkin or Butternut Squash, cut into cubes
- 20 - 50g Parmesan Cheese
- 1 Chicken or Veggie Stock Cube
- 250g Water
- 1 Teaspoon Sage
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic Granules (or 1 Fresh Clove of Garlic, crushed and sauteed)
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- Pepper to Taste
- Add everything except the pepper to the Thermomix® Bowl
- Put the MC in place, and hold it down while you liquidise - 30 seconds/ speed 10
- Turn the heat up to Varoma/15 mins/speed 3. Keep the MC in.
- When it's done, serve and top with pepper.
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