Ang Sarap (A Tagalog word for "It's Delicious")

Pumpkin Soup is a simple soup made from a puree of pumpkin mixed together with a rich stock.  It is a popular type of soup in former British colonies as well as the United States especially during thanksgiving.  I haven’t heard this type of soup when I was in the Philippines and I had just tried it recently when we moved to New Zealand, initially I did not wanted to try it as for me the taste would be weird as we only use pumpkins in the Philippines in vegetable dishes.  But one time I gave it a try and it was totally different from what I expected, the soup is so comforting with a hint of creaminess.  A good soup for the winter season but even it is not winter here yet it’s starting to get cold so might as well make this one a bit early than expected.

Ingredients

1 kg pumpkin, diced
1 litre chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 cup cream
1 large white onion, finely chopped
1 pc leek (white part), finely sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp nutmeg
cayenne pepper
oil

Method

1. In a sauce pan add oil then sauté garlic, onion and leeks, cook onions until it turns translucent.
2. Now add coriander, cumin, paprika and nutmeg, mix until fragrant.
3. Add pumpkin and slightly brown on one side (this gives a better flavour), then add the stock. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Let the soup cool then blend in sauce pan using a handheld blender or blend in batched over a table top blender.
5. Place everything back on the sauce pan if using the table top blender the place on low heat.  Add the cream then season with salt and cayenne pepper.