Pumpkin soup is one thing I really love about winter. There’s nothing quite like a thick soup served with crusty bread on a cold winters night.

Every family has their own additions to make pumpkin soup a little special. Mine are coriander and coconut milk. This recipe is completely adaptable so don’t be shy. Don’t like coconut milk? Don’t have a whole pumpkin? Just half or quarter the other ingredients. Use water instead and serve it with a big dollup of Greek yoghurt.

This recipe freezes and reheats really well. So portion some out into microwave and freezer safe containers for lunches or snacks so you can ditch the cup-a-soups! You could also keep it hot in a thermos for the lunchbox or work lunches on the go.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

Serves 4
1 small butternut pumpkin
2 cloves garlic, crushed (or 1 tspsn lazy garlic)
1 cup water
1 cup salt-reduced vegetable stock*
200ml light coconut milk
1 heaped tspn ground coriander

How to

1. Preheat oven to 180C or 160C fan-forced.

2. Cut the pumpkin roughly in half 4 times so you have 8 pieces. Leave the skin on and seeds in as they’re easier to remove when the pumpkin is cooked.

3. Arrange the pumpkin on a baking sheet and bake for around 30 minutes until tender.

4. Heat a large saucepan over low heat and add the pumpkin, garlic, coriander and water.

5. Stir and gently mash the pumpkin until roughly combine. Allow to cook for 10 minutes.

6. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add stock or water in its place if it doesn’t need the stock. Cook for another 10 minutes.

7. Purée soup in a blender or with a stick mixer. If soup is too thick for your liking, add more water. If it’s too thin (and you don’t have any more pumpkin to roast), add in some puréed canned cannelini beans.

8. Stir through the coconut milk and stir until heated through. Serve immediately with a grainy sourdough or portion into containers and refrigerate/freeze for later.

*Always test your soup before you add the stock. You may not actually need it. The roast pumpkin has so much flavour that just a little salt and pepper could do the trick!

Sarah Moore is a mum, and university qualified Registered Nutritionist with a decade of experience working with families to improve their health and well-being. Sarah has a simplistic and practical approach to family nutrition and can help the overwhelm of eating and living well with private consultations, email Q&A and her school lunchbox ebook. You can also find her on Facebook and Instagram for more healthy tips and tricks.