Cold nights and the end of summer

Summer is finally over. It was like somebody turned a switch on Monday and the cold weather arrived straight away on the first day of March. A couple of years I discovered how great a nice bowl of soup can be on a chilly night, after a day at work. The leftovers for lunch the next day are just as good as well...

Despite this, it has taken a long time for me to find a pumpkin soup I like. There are couple of key characteristics a pumpkin soup must have in my mind. First of all is texture, secondly a little kick is never a bad thing! And in my opinion, pumpkin needs something else in order to cut through it's natural sweetness.

One of my girlfriends found this recipe last year, and soon as the weather turns chilly I crave this soup. The red lentils add great texture, roasting the pumpkin gives great depth to the soup and the harissa adds piquancy! It makes such a great meal, curled up in front of the television.

Spiced Pumpkin, Red Lentil and Carrot Soup

1kg pumpkin, cut into large chunks

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, sliced in half moons

1T paprika

1 ½ T ground cumin

2T harissa
1 cup red lentils

1 bunch of coriander, chopped

750mL vegetable stock

olive oil

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Toss pumpkin with a little olive oil and roast pumpkin until soft.

In a large saucepan, heat approximately 1T olive oil. Add onion and carrot and stir over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add cumin, paprika and harissa, stir for 1 minute. Add stock and bring slowly to the boil. Lower the heat and add lentils. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes or until lentils are soft.

Add half of the lentil mix (including liquid) to the pumpkin and coriander in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Add puree to remaining lentil mixture, stir to combine.

Serve with additional harissa and coriander sprigs.