Tuesday 4 February 2014

Pumpkin Soup with a Mirepoix Base

I am a big soup person. Which means that the short so-called winter in Mumbai is not really my good friend. When I had made this soup about a week back, there was still some semblance of winter in the air, but now it is already summer in Mumbai. And I already miss the 'cold' weather. Anyways, people around the world who are still enjoying winters can always make and enjoy this soup! And I can for health reasons!

Pumpkin soup with a mirepoix base: the reason why I tried this recipe was I had celery to use up from my recent shopping trip at the Crawford Market about which I have already written in quite some detail. And I am so glad I had that to do that! It gave me the push I needed to try using mirepoix at least once as a base for some soup!

Pumpkin Soup with a Mirepoix Base


Mirepoix or a mixture of onions, carrots and celery in the ratio of 2:1:1 is a traditional base used for soups, stocks, stews and sauces. While I have always read about it, I have never tried using it in any of the soups I have made till date. This time I thought, why not? Also, after my success with making pumpkin parathas, I have fallen in love with the vegetable, and have wanted to use it more often and I thought what better way to display the true flavours of a vegetable than making soup out of it.

Pumpkin Soup

This pumpkin soup is a rich, creamy, lightly spiced, delicious concoction is low on calories and high on nutrients. It can be eaten by itself as a meal with just some bread and a bean salad for some proteins and there is your balanced meal. Or it can form a great appetizer to start a meal in a smaller quantity.

Pumpkin Soup


So, here is my recipe of pumpkin soup using mirepoix  as a base.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Total Time:  30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 tbsps olive oil
100 gms onions finely chopped
50 gms carrots finely chopped
50 gms celery finely chopped
2 bay leaves
500 gms red pumpkin diced
400 ml water
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp black pepper powder
Salt to taste

Method

In a pressure cooker heat the oil.

Add in the onions, carrots, celery and bay leaves and saute till the onions turn translucent.

Now add in the pumpkin and saute for around 3-4 minutes.

Pour in the water till it covers all the mixture, close the pressure cooker and cook for about 8 minutes till the pumpkins are tender and cooked through.

Fish out the bay leaves and then blend the mixture using a hand blender till it forms a thick soup.

Put the soup back on the heat. Add in the milk, salt and black pepper and bring to a boil.

Enjoy steaming hot!

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