Pumpkin Soup... and dicks

As we had a milder day here today (Yippeee !) I thought soup would be nice for dinner.

When I went to Wulkuraka I was fortunate enough to be given some fresh picked butternut pumpkins.

YUM ! Thanks BIL

So, pumpkin soup for dinner it is! (the dick part will become apparent as we go along.. trust me)

I often get asked for the recipe I use for my soup.. it’s nothing special.. the ingredients change depending on what I have at hand without going shopping... and it’s incredibly easy and everyone enjoys it (yes, even the children!)

For those of you who already know how to make pumpkin soup - my apologies & skip this post.

At least next time someone asks me for the recipe, I can just give them this link.

The pumpkin itself is the only ingredient that is always necessary. Everything else is really only an extra - and depends on how much nutrition you are trying to hide in the soup! Trust me, you can hide plenty of things that are good for you in soups, but they are not always what people would eat if they knew of its existence in the meal! I can not and will not divulge what I often hide in my soups as I may well get sprung. My hidden ingredients are not for public knowledge!

In saying that, I do NOT make pumpkin ice-cream.... Mel, you will never live that one down!

Alrighty, I started with 1 litre of liquid chicken stock (premade & store bought, I wasn’t THAT good today) Two big pumpkins, three medium potatoes, four small onions, 5 garlic cloves ….. and a partridge in a pear tree.... ok.. so now I'm just being plain silly.

Everything is rough cut, no need to be precise as it all gets blended later on.

Now this is real Aussie grown garlic. Not like that horrible imported stuff we get here. Look at the size of the clove! It costs around $30 per kilo but hey.. It’s damn good!

Now for the dick part. You may notice in that photo not only the size of the garlic cloves, but also a bloodied tissue and a bandaid on my finger... yes, the dreaded dick knife struck again. You would think by now I could manage not to cut myself - alas. At least this time it was a humble cut. (My foot STILL hurts & two toes are still numb btw)

If the pumpkin is rather young, and is pale on the inside (as I discovered these ones were after cutting them open) do not put much potato in. It will make the soup end up rather bland. So the rule is, cut the pumpkin BEFORE peeling the spuds!

Fry the onions in a nice oil. I use avocado oil cause it’s good for ya - rather expensive, but its great stuff. When onions are close to being transparent, add in garlic. Only slightly brown the onions & garlic. I love caramelised onions, but they don’t look all that great in pumpkin soup. They look remarkably like insects have fallen into the pot - aesthetics do count, especially when it comes to insects floating in your food.



While those are cooking, heat the chicken stock in a large pot and rough cut the pumpkin. Don't be too fussed, as long as they are all kinda the same size for equal cooking.

There is that *&%^# ! knife again...

Put the chopped pumpkin into the pot; make sure that the fluid level covers the pumpkin by 2cms or so. If there is not enough stockto do that, just add water.. no biggie. Don’t put too much water in at first, you can always add it later but you can't take it out! *note* runny pumpkin soup ain’t that nice!

Add some Vegeta, or something similar. Vegeta is a dry vegetable stock that I use for many dishes. It is a good price & available in most supermarkets.


Cook the pumpkin & spuds till they are tender. Add in fried onions & garlic; cook on low for another 10 minutes or so, the stove temperature doesn’t really matter, just don’t totally boil the snot out of them.


You can transfer the chunky soup into a blender, but I much prefer using a stick/stab mixer. It is much easier that way & less dishes ….is a good thing.

Blend until smooth (or as smooth as it gets) then add in some ground nutmeg. Fresh grated is best, but the stuff you buy in the supermarket is ok too.

Use about this much nutmeg


Now we need cracked pepper. I'm not a pepper lover myself so I put in about this much.

At this stage I add some Kecap Manis . It is also called Ketchap Manis. It is an Indonesian sweet soy sauce – make sure to use sweet soy, not the ordinary one or the soup will be waaaaaaay too salty.

I sometimes add a little curry powder or cumin if it’s needed for extra taste, but you can decide on that with the final tasting. I didn’t add that today. The pumpkins were young, but still had a nice flavor.

Last but not least, comes the cream. There are no measurement guides for this, is definitely a personal taste. I normally add about 400ml to the pot and then add a dollop in the middle of the bowl when serving. (just makes it look a little speech!)

Here is the final product.

Tonight I served it with a sprig of parsley and sourdough crusty breadstick.

That is nutmeg scattered over the top...not insects btw :D

The kids absolutely loved it – as did my neighbour !

We are lucky enough to have what I consider to be the world’s best neighbours! They are both in their late 70’s. Toni loves my soups & Bruno loves anything sweet. He doesn’t eat fruit or vegetables because in his words “they are for old people!”

I hope I am still as 'young' as him when I am 78