Hello Everyone! Oh what a hectic recipe this has been. First of all, it wasn’t supposed to be Moroccan-flavoured pumpkin soup; I wanted to do a spicy chipotle pumpkin soup. I looked everywhere I could for chipotle peppers, but could only find chipotle salsa in the grocery stores that contained like 5% chipotle and 95% others. There were two other stores that sold chipotle peppers, but one I had to order online (with a minimum price of $20.00 to be able to ship), and the other I had to wait up to 10 days. So I scratched the chipotle and decided to use fresh jalapeño peppers along with Mexican chilli powder.Those flavours didn’t even shine through because of the very flavourful Moroccan soup base that I used for the soup. I was going to make my own vegetable stock for this dish, until I saw this base in store. I’ve never seen them before (well duh it says ‘new’) and I wanted to give it a try – thus Moroccan Pumpkin Soup on the menu tonight. Even though I didn’t achieve what I wanted to in the first place, the soup was delicious, especially with the crispy chorizo bits on top!

Peeling pumpkin can be quite difficult, I guess, well not for me. I only said that because I remembered my former housemate Lydia struggling to peel pumpkin; it would take her close to an hour to peel and cut them into chunks. I also remembered how she would place them in the pot and cook them as she went to save time, and but of course the first batch of pumpkin would already be tender. I jokingly said to her, “did you have pumpkin mash for dinner?” Ah bless her; Lydia if you’re reading this, please comment below (also you Vidhya because I know you are reading this and remembering this too :P).

PREP TIME 20 MINS | COOKING TIME 40 MINS | SERVES 3-5

INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium-sized pumpkin, peeled, deseeded, and cut into chunks
• 1 chorizo, sliced and then cut into small chunks
• 300ml thickened cream
• 2 cups Campbell’s Moroccan soup base
• 2 jalapeño peppers, deseeded
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium-sized onion, diced
• 1 tsp Mexican chilli powder
• Afro parsley
• Feta cheese
• Ground salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F or gas mark 4). In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin chunks and jalapeño peppers with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss around until well coated with the oil and seasoning. Line a baking tray with foil and place the pumpkin chunks and jalapeño peppers on it. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes or until tender.
2. Heat a large pot with a bit of olive oil over medium-high. Add the chorizo chunks in and fry until crispy. Set aside, leaving behind the oil in the pot.
3. Sauté the garlic until fragrant and golden brown. Add the onions and continue cooking until soft.
4. Add the pumpkin and jalapeño peppers to the pot and mash the pumpkin, mixing it together with the sautéed garlic and onions. Season with a bit more salt, pepper, and Mexican chilli powder, then add in the Moroccan soup base. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, continue cooking for a further 10 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat and let it sit too cool down slightly for about 10 minutes. Using a stick blender, blend the vegetables together with the liquid in the cooking pot until smooth. Add in the cream and give it a good mix.
6. Divide the soup equally into serving bowls (3 large bowls, or 4-5 small bowls), and top each with a bit of crispy chorizo and feta cheese. Garnish with afro parsley leaves and serve immediately with some toasted bread.

Honestly, why buy canned soup when you can easily make your own! Much more healthy in a sense that there are far way less preservatives in your soup and you can go nuts with the flavours that you fancy!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx