Pumpkin, Sweet Potato & Cumin Soup

Given we’re all getting our pumpkin carve on this week, I thought I’d share a lovely recipe to use up that leftover orange flesh. Granted, it’s a bit smelly when it’s raw, but add a few warming spices and pair it up with its robust cousin, the sweet potato and you’ve got yourself a comforting bowl of sweet and spiced goodness. It’s also cheap and cheerful, so perfect for those of us crawling to pay day! 

To make enough to feed an army of trick or treaters:

2 onions

1 large pumpkin (or I used three small ones)

2 large sweet potatoes

Handful of cumin seeds

Sprinkle of ground cumin

Stock to cover & fill the pot

Salt & pepper

Cut open a little lid in the top of your pumpkin, and hollow out the inside, scraping all the seeds and pulp into a bowl. This bit’s fiddley, but remove the seeds (adding a bit of water can help most of them float to the surface) and leave to one side. Using a bigger pumpkin probably helps as there’s more flesh to seeds!

Peel and chop your sweet potato and your onion, and fry together with the pumpkin until it’s got some nice colour. 

Make a little well in the centre and add in your cumin seeds to the dry pan so they toast for a few seconds, then stir in so the vegetables are all nicely coated. 

Cover with your stock (I used beef and vegetable), a good sprinkle of ground cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Leave to boil with the lid on until all the vegetables are soft and breaking apart. 

While your brew is bubbling away you can make sure your pumpkins have some suitably scary faces. I modelled these on myself, my sister and my mum. Quite a likeness I think! 

Blitz up your soup so it’s smooth and velvety, adding more seasoning if it needs it, and reducing down if it’s a bit too thin.

Serve in big bowls with a dollop of sour cream, a scattering of toasted cumin seeds and some fresh crusty bread.

Simply bewitching.