Follow this 'dead easy' recipe and fill up your hollow Halloween tummies! Would you like to lift this photo shoot to put on your website? No problem! Just drop me a line
If you’re planning on carving out a pumpkin to celebrate Halloween, here’s a great way of turning the leftover scoopings into something utterly delicious to warm you up when you get home.
It’s best served hot, with chunks of tasty bread for dipping and mopping.
Pumpkins will be around for a few weeks more and they’ll be super cheap once Halloween is over and done with, so you might be able to bag yourself a bargain at the greengrocers too.
This is also a fun recipe to cook up with a friend, so why not take Jamie Oliver’s great advice and share the fun by passing it on!
Ingredients –
Pumpkin flesh. Weigh it and you want half the weight of onions and a little garlic,
ie 2lbs pumpkin to 1lb onions.
A splash of water to clean your pans.
A mug full of vegetable stock
or
A mug of cream.
Seasoning.
Start by taking the lid off of your pumpkin and don't forget to make it big enough to get your hand in! Scoop out all the seeds in the centre, dry them out and plant a few next year! Put the other centre scoopings into your compost heap. Now parr out all the flesh and put it into a roasting tin. Drizzle with a little honey, olive oil and seasoning, toss well and put on the middle or bottom shelf of a moderate oven.
Roughly chop your onions (I used whites for this recipe, but you can sling in a few reds to add to the colour) and add a few chopped cloves of garlic if you feel so inclined. Put them in a roasting tin, drizzle with honey, a little olive oil and seasoning, toss to cover them and roast on the top shelf of a moderate oven.
Here's the pumpkin progress. Give it all a good stir after 30 minutes and return the tin to the oven and reduce the heat slightly.
Give your onions a good stir at the same time. You may find some of the exposed honeyed tops have caramelised and look a little burned, they are delicious, stir them all into the tin and ensure everything is wet before returning to the oven for the last 1/2 hour.
Once everything looks deliciously golden, it's ready to put into the blender. The onion will have a little liquid in the bottom of the pan and the pumpkin should have quite a bit. Pour it all into the blender and blast it!
Clean your roasting pans out with a little water and leave them to soak off all the burned on golden bits! Give that a whizz in the blender too and put it all into a large lidded pan.
If you've done a couple of large trays like I have, you'll need to make a few trips to the blender. The soup should have a thick and velvety consistency now. Pour everything into a large pot and give it all a good stir before you add any further liquids to thin it down.
You're just about done. Heat the soup through and taste those delicious combinations of winter veg! If you want a thinner soup, either add a tea cup of good vegetable stock, or if you fancy being naughty, make it a small pot of cream instead just before you serve it. Stir well throughout the soup and make final adjustments of seasoning if need be.
If you’d like me to do a step-by-step photo guide for another simple and delicious recipe, drop me a note in the comments box and I’ll happily oblige!
If you’d like to reprint this colourful photo shoot recipe on your website, no problem! Just drop me a line to tell me where it’s going and credit it back with a link to this blog.
Rubbishly yours,
TSx
Having had lots of fun making a lantern with my 4 year old daughter, (she drew the face and shapes and i carved!), I found myself looking guiltily at the innerds of our sweet pumpkin-face, rather perplexed as to how we’d use it all up, if at all, and guessed just the place to look for a delicious recipe! Thank you Tracey!
Do you have any green Halloween costume tips? Daughter has an outfit borrowed from the Toy Library but I’m as yet uninspired re what to wear myself and may have to simply staple/stick autumn leaves to my old witches hat and a cardi that is a bit like a cape and be an autumn witch – i bet you’ve got some better ideas tho! help!
You can never go wrong with a nice simple delicious soup! We had a super Halloween with lots of pumpkin, kids, homemade cakes and an incredible community atmosphere in our village. I organised a pumpkin carving competition and fancy dress, there’s nothing quite like a get together of all your neighbours.
Hi claire – i saw you on janeys tips – i was there too with the relax kids chill skills cds
i couldnt find an email for you and so i hope you dont mind me leaving this here….
i produce a monthly online magazine for parents and teachers full of lots of great articles to help them enjoy life to the max. I love your rubbish ideas and was wondering if you would like to contribute to the magazine and we can put promote your book and website.
please do let me know if you are interested
the current issue is http://www.relaxkids.com/magazine
many thanks marneta
I can confirm that Tracey’s soup was gorgeous, really lovely and what a night we had, a clear starry night with lots of scary trick or treaters and their parents having some warming soup. We also had spicy parsnip, parsnip and apple and leek and potato, all very popular. The bus shelter looked great lit with tea lights in jam jars and tracey’s rechargeable lamp. And we certainly had fun doing it, so I think we will be on again for next year!
Too right we will missus!
TS
x
Hi Marneta – thanks for your note about Relax Kids! I’ll drop you a line via your lovely website.
TS x
It really cool photos…i like it.
‘Its’
Thank you!
TS
my teacher is stupid and does not no how too make soup can you help him
Hi Jade – yea, tell him to drop me a line!
TS x