Roast Pumpkin Soup - 2 points+

Serves: 6 | Serving size: 2 ladles | Points: 2 | Prep: 20 mins | Cooking: 1 hour   

This recipe makes me wonder why I bothered using cream in the first place.  The carrots and red onion give it a sweet note, perfect for cosy nights in front of the telly (I would say fire, but who really does that these days?). I usually make a double batch and keep it in the freezer for those days I splurge a bit too much and only have a couple of points left for dinner!  Omit the bacon and you can have 0 points soup!

The great thing about puréed soups is that everything can be roughly prepared and thrown together... It won't matter in the end!  Don't forget to get those leftover bits out of the garlic crusher too, don't waste any of that garlicky goodness!


Ingredients:

• 1 whole butternut pumpkin, chopped 
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 150g bacon (all fat trimmed - I used rindless shortcut 97% fat free bacon)
• 2 red onions, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 litre of chicken stock (I use Massel powder or cubes)
• 3 tsp rosemary
• 1 tsp ground sage
• 1 tsp turmeric

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 200ºC.  Peel and chop pumpkin and carrots into roughly equal bits.  Place on oven tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 20-30 mins.
• When veggies are almost done, heat olive oil in large non-stick pot. Add red onion, sautéing for about 3 minutes or until soft. Add garlic, rosemary, sage and turmeric and sauté for 1 minute.
• Add roasted veggies and chicken stock to the pot, bring to the boil then simmer, covered, for 10 mins.
• Blend until soup is smooth (I use a hand whizzer).
• Serve with toast or my cheesy garlic bread (recipe to come)!