Winter Warmer

Yes it is strange talking about it being winter at the end of May,but that is what you get when you live on the other side of the world. In Auckland there was actually a weather warning because of all the expected rain! Well I guess it can't be nice here all the time. The point is though when the weather gets colder I always feel for food that is going to warm me up. One of my favourites is a big bowl of soup...on the menu last night:

Pumpkin Soup

Most of the recipes I found doing my usual trawl through cookbooks and on line had similar recipe, mine was heavily influenced by Annabelle White and her presentation on the breakfast show which you can view here

I melted a lob of butter with some olive oil and added a large onion and 3 cloves of garlic both chopped obviously. Then I added a tsp of ginger and some coriander. Fresh is probably best but I was working with what I got which was ginger in a jar and dried coriander which ain't that bad to be honest. Then I added the pumpkin. Then I think my favourite bit which really adds a kick to this recipe is a tbsp of curry powder...heat and flavour galore! Once it softened I added a few cups of chicken stock, all depending really on how much soup you are aiming for. And no I did not make my own chicken stock but go for it if you are so inclined and it will probably make a huge difference. Then you let it simmer till the pumpkin is nice and soft. I am a fan of smooth soups but I do not own a hand held blender so out came the potato masher...hence the lumps in the picture ( hubby thought it was lentils....hmmm possibly an interesting addition?). At the end I lobbed in some parsley and serve.

Tada...a winter warmer that goes down a treat!