Travelling around the U.S. during fall not only made me appreciate the utter beauty if its landscape in colourful glory, but reminded me how much I love the good old pumpkin. It was creeping up to halloween and just about every house, shop or restaurant I saw was adorned with a variety of colourful pumpkins and squashes. And I’m not talking pumpkins carved into faces; just your regular varieties that are purely used as decoration.

Coming home to hot weather in Sydney didn’t stop me from picking up a butternut pumpkin and whipping up a soup with it. Personally, I could eat pumpkin soup at any time of the year. I usually roast it with an onion and a couple of garlic cloves before whizzing it up with vegetable stock, but this time I’ve taken it a bit further and made it into more of a substantial meal.

Not only did I roast the pumpkin dusted in ground cumin and drizzle it with pomegranate molasses, but I made a garnish of quinoa spiced with za’atar, sumac and chilli. It gives the soup texture and an added warmth from the Middle Eastern spices. If you have left-over cooked quinoa in the fridge it’s a great way to use it up.

The parsley in our street herb garden is in desperate need of a prune as each plant is covered in flowers. Adding the little flowers to the quinoa, along with the regular leaves, was a great way to use the flowers and add some green freshness to the mixture.

Print Recipe

Butternut pumpkin & quinoa soup

Pimp up your pumpkin soup with a deliciously spiced quinoa crumble.

Course

Main Dish, Starters

Servings

servings

Ingredients

• 2 kg butternut pumpkin cut in half & seeded
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic peeled
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• Salt & black pepper to taste
• ¾ cup red quinoa
• ¾ cup parsley leaves (& flowers if you can get them) chopped
• 4 tbsp za'atar see notes
• 1 tsp sumac
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp virgin olive oil
• 1.25 litres vegetable stock
• Sea salt & black pepper to taste

Course Main Dish, Starters Servings servings Ingredients 2 kg butternut pumpkin cut in half & seeded 1 onion 2 cloves garlic peeled 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses 1 tsp ground cumin Salt & black pepper to taste ¾ cup red quinoa ¾ cup parsley leaves (& flowers if you can get them) chopped 4 tbsp za'atar see notes 1 tsp sumac ½ tsp chilli flakes 1 tbsp virgin olive oil 1.25 litres vegetable stock Sea salt & black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Lay the pumpkin halves onto a baking tray cut-side up. Place the whole unpeeled onion on the tray as well. Place a garlic clove in each cavity of the pumpkin. Drizzle each pumpkin half with the olive oil and pomegranate molasses. Scatter other the ground cumin, sea salt and pepper, to taste. Bake for about an hour until the pumpkin is cooked through, but not browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool for ten minutes.
2. You can do the next step while the pumpkin is in the oven.
3. Bring a pot of water to the boil. Add the quinoa, reduce the heat to a soft boil and cook for 15 minutes. Drain and cool under running cold water. Drain well. Place the cooked quinoa into a mixing bowl with the chopped parsley, za'atar, sumac, chilli flakes and virgin olive oil. Mix well then season with sea salt and black pepper. Set aside while you finish the soup.
4. Pour any liquid that has gathered in the pumpkin cavity as well as the garlic clove into a large saucepan. Scoop the pumpkin flesh into the saucepan and discard the skin. Remove the skin from the cooked onion and add the flesh to the pumpkin. Pour over the vegetable stock and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer over medium heat for 5-10 minutes then turn off heat.
5. Using a stick blender, purée the soup until smooth. Check for seasoning.
6. To serve, ladle the soup into individual bowls and top with as much of the quinoa mixture as you like. Serve with crusty bread.

Recipe Notes

Get my recipe for za'atar here.

 

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