We're embracing Fall around here {did you see our Fall entry?}, so today I thought I'd share the recipe from our first soup of the season.
You'll probably never believe this, but Mr. DD ran across this recipe in the Financial Times, of all places. Believe me you, I was as shocked as you. Not your average recipe locale. But, when he forwarded me the recipe for pumpkin and bacon soup, I thought, yup - we need to give this one a try. It did not disappoint.
We actually make quite a few soups around here. Almost all of them are pureed soups. I've found that this is the easiest way to get loads of veggies into picky Miss T. If she can't see it, she doesn't know. Ah, ignorance is bliss.
Pumpkin and bacon soup by Fergus Henderson
Should easily serve 12
3 onions, peeled
3 leeks, cleaned
5 cloves garlic, peeled
Extra virgin olive oil
1kg piece smoky streaky bacon, cubed or in chunks {I halved the amount, 1 lb}
4 tinned tomatoes {I used one whole small can of tomatoes}
1 pumpkin {I used 3 butternut squash}
3 bay leaves
Bundle fresh thyme and parsley
At least 3.5l ham or chicken stock
Sea salt and black pepper
• Chop your onions, leeks and garlic. Put a good dose of olive oil into your pot, add the chopped vegetables and cook but do not brown. Add your chopped bacon and its skin. When these have released their fat, squish the tomatoes in your hands and add them, giving your dish a slight blush. Let all this cook down until you feel that the ingredients have really got to know each other, a gentle 25 minutes or so.
• While this is happening, peel, seed and chop your pumpkin into approximately 2.5cm chunks. Add these and let them cook for about 5-10 minutes. Then add the bay leaves and the thyme and parsley bundle. Now add the stock, enough so that you end up with an Arctic Sea of soup with icebergs of pumpkin bobbing about in your broth. Simmer until the pumpkin is soft and giving, but not falling apart (though a little disintegration is not a bad thing), say 30-40 minutes. Season to taste and serve hot.
This recipe didn't require pureeing, but we went ahead and did it. I will admit that pureed bacon is a bit of a strange texture, but ultimately, it just works better for us. I also made some other minor changes to the recipe, which I highlighted in green.
This makes a bucket load of soup. We froze half and I'm already looking forward to having it again. Enjoy!
until next time,
