Cinnamon and Pumpkin Soup

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 6 people

Finding a mid week dinner that all the family will enjoy can be a challenge. With regular requests for ‘chicken tonight’, this is a tasty puff pastry pie filled with rice, mushrooms, onions and parsley and of course chunky pieces of chicken.

It can be prepared in advance and cooked fresh or prepared to the final stage, then frozen until you need to defrost and cook it. I like to serve it with a selection of green vegetables like broccoli, curly kale and green beans.

Make it either in individual parcels, but it is quicker made into one large pie. I have sprinkled some sesame seeds on top, but cumin seeds, ground coriander or a dusting of paprika can be substituted if preferred.
For a vegetarian twist, you can substitute the chicken for roughly cooked cubes of pumpkin, butternut squash or aubergine.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil – for frying
• 2 tablespoons olive oil – for inside pumpkin shell
• 2 onions – peeled and finely chopped
• 2 sticks celery- sliced
• 2 carrots – peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 leeks –trimmed and sliced lengthways
• 1 large whole pumpkin – to serve soup
• Plus 750g flesh for soup – peeled and diced
• 75g plain flour
• 250ml orange juice
• 1 litre hot vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons dried cinnamon
• Bouquet garni made with sprigs of thyme, 2 bay leaves, 2 half sticks of celery
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1) Prepare the pumpkin. Trim off the top and retain as a lid. Carefully hollow out the flesh, discarding the fibres and seeds from the inside so that you keep the shape intact so that you can use it to serve your soup.
2) Prepare 750g of pumpkin flesh and cut into cubes.
3) Heat a large saucepan with vegetable oil. Sauté the onions, cinnamon, leeks, pumpkin, carrots and celery for about 3 minutes until slightly softened.
4) Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
5) Add the stock and orange juice and bring to the boil.
6) Make the bouquet garni (mixed fresh herbs) by tying a piece of string around the bay leaves, thyme and celery sticks and add to soup. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
7) Simmer for 35 minutes. Remove the bouquet garni.
8) Pre-heat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F / Gas mark 4.
9) Brush the vegetable oil inside the pumpkin shell. Replace the lid on the top of the pumpkin. Place on a tray lined with non stick baking parchment paper and bake for 20 minutes.
10) Liquidise the soup until smooth. Return to the saucepan, reheat and adjust seasoning accordingly.

To serve the stylish way: Pour the soup into the cooked pumpkin shell and serve immediately.


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