Pumpkin perfection

Pumpkin perfection

Transcendent  
Creamy - but without the cream - butternut pumpkin soup is a winner

So we're back into my favourite time of year - autumn and winter - and with it, comes my favourite type of food - comfort food. Perfect pastas, brilliant braises, steaming soups.

Soups are one of my most favourite things to cook and eat. They're so easy to make, yet can be as simple or as decadent as you like. They can be clean, nourishing and light - like chicken noodle soup - or they can be dense and knock your socks off, fending off any would-be cold - like my spicy barley and lentil soup.

I've written before that there's a few things you can't get in Switzerland. But I was pleasantly surprised when the shops started stocking butternut pumpkin a few weeks ago. (Which, I must add, I was shocked to discover that butternut pumpkin - as it's called in Australia - is not actually a pumpkin at all, but rather a squash.) Picking one up, I suddenly had a craving for butternut pumpkin soup.

Perfect pumpkin creaminess

I had plenty of recipes amongst my recipe books and volumes, but none really suited what I wanted; a rich, smooth soup, easy to make, creamy - but without the cream. I've never been a big fan of cream in anything, but especially in soups. However I found the perfect recipe - pumpkin and chive soup. This recipe uses potatoes - the starch of which provides the smooth creaminess - a tiny bit of sour cream - for depth of flavour - and a sprinkling of chives - for a hint of crunch.

After sautéing onion and garlic, and then simmering peeled and cut potatoes and pumpkin in chicken stock (add veg stock to make this vegetarian-friendly), it's time to break out the equipment and whiz it all up in a food processor, in batches, to a super smooth, creamy consistency. Season with salt and pepper, add sour cream and finely chopped chives - and voila - pumpkin soup perfection. 

Peel, chop, simmer, whiz, stir - very easy to make. Sweet pumpkin taste, balanced by starchy potatoes and dense sour cream - very tasty. On a cold, wintry night, what else could you ask for?

Cold comforts

Triumph 

Home-made stock and two simple, yet tasty soups that will comfort the coldest of nights

Cold comforts

So I haven’t cooked anything worth posting lately, mostly because I don’t really get into summer food. With the cooler weather and autumn definitely here, it’s time to start cooking my favourite foods – winter comfort food.

The ultimate comfort food: chicken noodle soup

With liquid stock non-existent in Switzerland, I used last Sunday’s cold weather as a good excuse to stay indoors and make some, plus that quintessential winter comfort food, chicken noodle soup. I’ve used this Donna Hay recipe a few times and I love it; it’s so easy to make by just throwing in a whole uncooked chicken, carrots, celery, garlic, onion, bay leaves, peppercorns and water. You end up with clean, home-made chicken stock, poached chicken for sandwiches, and chicken noodle soup.

The chicken soup is simple, delicious, wholesome and, of course, comforting. I use my favourite soup pasta, ditali (which I’ve discovered, with delight, that I can buy at my local supermarket), and simply add some of the poached chicken, stock, carrots, celery and season with salt and pepper. It tastes even better once it’s been frozen and reheated for lunch at work or a quick dinner at home.

Spicy barley and lentil soup will clear out
the stuffiest of noses

With Emperor D battling the flu during the week, I decided he needed something that is comforting but has a bit of a kick to clear out his stuffy head and nasal passages. One of his favourites is spicy barley and lentil soup, which I found in an issue of Men's Health magazine, but actually comes from The Low GI Handbook. Finely diced onion gently fried with spices, including some chilli, then adding water, a couple of cups of chicken or vegetable stock, some tinned tomatoes, pearl barley and red lentils and voila – a tasty, hearty soup with a decent enough kick  to knock out the worst colds and flus.

The great thing is I now have a freezer full of soup and stock for lunch and dinner for the next two weeks – until it’s time to make some more!