Quick Easy Pumpkin Soup – My Messy Kitchen Adventure
Right, so fancied something cozy today. Looked at the sad little pumpkin sittin’ on my counter forever. Figured, soup time. Grabbed it.
First job? Hack the thing open. Seriously, why are pumpkins so tough? Used my biggest knife, wedged it near the stem, basically wrestled it down onto the board. Thunk. Cut it into quarters. Scooped out the stringy bits and seeds with a spoon – gloopy job, my fingers were sticky. Peeled off the skin with a veggie peeler. Took forever, bits of peel flying everywhere. Chop chop chop! Cubed the orange flesh. Chunks weren’t perfect, some big, some small. Whatever.
Got my biggest pot out. Splash of olive oil in the bottom. Turned the heat on medium. Chopped an onion next – made my eyes water like crazy. Just tossed the onion pieces into the pot. Sizzle! Stirred them around a bit with a wooden spoon until they looked kinda soft and see-through. Maybe a bit brown on some edges.
Pushed the onion to the side. Threw in the mountain of pumpkin chunks. Heard a nice big sizzle again. Stirred it all together, made sure the pumpkin got coated in the oily onion goodness. Let it cook like that for a minute or two. Smelled good already. Sprinkled a good shake of salt and pepper over the top. Gave it another stir. Poured in enough vegetable stock to almost cover the pumpkin chunks. Didn’t measure exactly. Brought the whole lot up to a boil. Bubbles popping!
Turned the heat right down low. Put the lid on kinda crooked. Just let it bubble gently away. Timer set for 25 minutes. Kicked back, kettle on for tea. Peeked under the lid a couple times. Yep, pumpkin getting soft. Smelled amazing. Timer dinged! Fished out a pumpkin chunk with a fork. Squished it against the pot side – super soft, mushed right away. Perfect.
Turned off the heat. Got my hand blender ready – the stick one. Took the lid off. Whoosh, steam in my face! Careful! Plunged the blender stick into the pot. Started slow… then went for it. Whirrrrr! Pureed the bejesus out of it. Spun the pot around, got those chunks at the bottom. Soup went smooth and thick and super orange. Flecks everywhere near the pot, mind you. Splashed a bit. Oops. Made a mess.
Ladled myself a bowl right from the pot. Couldn’t wait. Quick taste. Needed… something. Poked around the fridge. Found some cream lurking at the back. Sploosh! A good glug stirred into the bowl. Much better. Richer. Quick extra pinch of salt. Perfect comfort food.
End result?
- Thick, orange goodness in a bowl.
- My kitchen looked like a pumpkin exploded.
- Used up the sad pumpkin.
- Warmed my bones.
- Definitely quick, definitely easy, totally worth the sticky fingers and blender splatter.