Since college is sucking my will to live at the moment, the meals I manage to make are usually ones you can completely ignore until you remember you were making dinner 30 minutes previously.
When I was wandering around eason’s the other day, I came across a cute little soup book: 1 Stock, 50 Soups. It had a particularly yummy sounding recipe for bacon and pumpkin soup. I had pumpkin, and I had bacon. This is a simple recipe for soup. I made it quite lazily and just shoved everything into the pot and left it, but if you have more time, I recommend you cook it as directed. If you’d like to see the recipe for this hearty and comforting autumnal soup, just click below to have a nose around. Enjoy!
Ingredients
2tsp olive oil
2 onions {I used just one}
600g canned pumpkin {I used 3 cups of pumpkin puree}
200g smoked bacon, diced
pinch of grated nutmeg
1.2 litres basic stock
salt and pepper
Method
Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the pumpkin, bacon and nutmeg, stir well, then cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 5-8 minutes. Pour in the stick, increase the heat to medium and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
While that is cooking, make the bacon croutons. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the bacon and fry for 4-6 minutes on each side, until crisp and it has released all its fat. Meanwhile, cut the bread into 1inch squares. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. Add the bread squares and cook, turning and tossing until golden brown all over. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
Transfer soup to a food processor {or use hand blender} and blend until smooth. Remove the soup from the heat and ladle into warmed bowls. Sprinkle with the croutons, crumble the bacon over and serve immediately.
NOTE: I did the first step all in one go. Shoved everything into the pot and left it. The soup turned out gorgeous. Yum, yum.
Click here for a handy cooking calculator, should you prefer to measure in cups, mls, oz etc.
Click here for a handy cooking calculator, should you prefer to measure in cups, mls, oz etc.