How to cook the perfect Pumpkin Soup - Recipe and Wine Pairing

There’s something wonderfully autumnal and comforting about a pumpkin soup. The deep orange colour, the silky texture and soft, warming flavours… no wonder it’s a family favourite all over the world.

It’s also a surprisingly versatile dish, and there is a spectrum of squashes, gourds and calabashes out there to experiment with.

Try serving this soup with some mixed seeds, a couple of croutons and a splash of cream.

What you’ll need:

• Four tablespoons of good olive oil
• Two onions, finely chopped
• Approximately one kilogram of pumpkin flesh, although butternut squash or kabocha works equally well
• 700 millilitres of vegetable or chicken stock
• 140 ml of double cream
• Extra cream and seeds to serve
  

Method:

First

Heat half your olive oil in a large saucepan, and add your chopped onions. You want them to sweat down a bit and soften, but don’t let them go brown or else your pumpkin soup will taste of burnt onions, not of pumpkin!

Second

Add your pumpkin flesh. Make sure none of the tough skin, pith or seeds gets into the mix. This will take about ten to twelve minutes to soften with the onions, but make sure you keep moving them around to stop them from burning.

Third

When the pumpkin has softened and turned a luxurious golden colour, it’s time to add the stock. Pour the whole lot in, and bring it to a gentle boil. Season the mixture with salt and pepper (black pepper and pumpkin is a marriage made in heaven!), and allow it to simmer and further soften for ten minutes or so.

Fourth

Take the soup off the boil, and stir in your pot of double cream. Once this is done, you can use a hand blender to puree the mixture until it is velvety and unctuous! If you want to make it even silkier, you can push it through a sieve with the back of a wooden spoon, but this is by no means obligatory.

Last

Serve hot, with a splash of cream and scattering of seeds and croutons, or freeze for up to two months.

Wine pairing for Pumpkin Soup

Want to add a little wine to pair with the flavours of this dish? One of the best wine pairings for Pumpkin Soup is Viognier.

Pumpkin soup is a true autumnal wonder - mellow, rich, filling and satisfying. Pairing soup with wine is generally not such a difficult process, as most soups have strong primary flavours which make wine matching relatively easy.

Pumpkin soup is no exception with its mellow fruitiness, and the cream in the recipe calls for a soft, lush wine which will not overpower the subtle flavours of the dish.

Taking this into account, a Viognier would pair beautifully - the aromatic floral notes will bring a piece of summer to this autumnal soup, and the creamy, buttery body will complement the texture beautifully.

Viognier is traditionally a wine of the Rhone Valley of France, but is now produced with excellent results in Australia, the USA and New Zealand.

And there you have it; the recipe for Pumpkin Soup and the perfect wine pairing.

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