Hot Spicy Pumpkin Soup Recipes

Steps:

• Cook pancetta in olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-heat until crispy, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
• Add onion and celery to the pan drippings and saute until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and bay leaves and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute, stirring constantly to keep the garlic from burning. Add chicken stock, pumpkin puree, apple cider vinegar, and thyme sprigs; bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 to 30 minutes (or up to 2 hours). Remove and discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Puree soup with an immersion blender until smooth or blend in batches in a blender.
• Add five-spice, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Whisk in cream and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Cook onion, garlic, and ginger in 1 tablespoon oil in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 4 minutes. Add pumpkin and wine and boil, uncovered, until wine is reduced by about half, about 5 minutes. Stir in stock and simmer, covered, until pumpkin is tender, about 20 minutes.
• Heat remaining tablespoon oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté lemongrass, galangal, and chiles to taste, stirring, until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
• Purée pumpkin mixture in batches (use caution when blending hot liquids) and return to pot. Stir in lemongrass mixture, lime leaves, lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar. Simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes. Pour soup through a sieve, discarding solids, and season well with salt and pepper.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds with a spoon (see tip below). Cut into wedges or chunks (keep the skin on) and tip into a bowl. Put the garam masala, and 1 tsp each of the coriander and cumin into a small bowl and mix with 2 tbsp of the oil and season. Drizzle over the pumpkin and toss well to coat in the spiced oil. Transfer to a baking tray, spread out evenly and roast for 40-45 mins, turning halfway through cooking, until the pumpkin is very soft when pierced with a fork. Leave to cool on the tray for a few minutes.
• Heat the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion with a pinch of salt for 10 mins until soft. Add the ginger, garlic and remaining spices and chilli flakes, and fry for a few more minutes until fragrant. Pour in the stock and bring to a gentle simmer.
• When the pumpkin is cool enough to touch, use a spoon to scoop the soft flesh from the skins. Add the soft pumpkin to the stock pan, discarding the skins. Remove from the heat and blitz the soup with a hand blender until creamy and smooth. Season to taste, adding extra chilli or garam masala if you like. Put back over a low heat and stir in the cream. Bring to a gentle simmer, then serve in bowls with a drizzle more cream and a pinch of chilli to serve. Top with toasted pumpkin seeds, if you like.