Autumn colours in the countryside are starting to match the rich copper finish of this soup.
The Liquid Amber tree.
Leaves are on the turn–slowly this year– but still attached.
The sunflower soldiers–stand in the field heads bowed, fading to charcoal black, waiting to be harvested.
The ground is too wet to harvest the seed heads.
The walnuts are dropping freely when the wind and rain are strong. For a short time after a storm, there’s a scattering across the road; until word gets out, and the owners or gleaners arrive to gather them up.
Conkers (horse chestnuts) everywhere–so round and polished chocolate-brown and so frustrating.
There’s no known use for them except the English schoolboy game of bashing the daylights out of a rival’s, both of them dangling at the end of a piece of string.
“Mine’s a sixer. What’s yours?”
“A twelver,” I lie….
And acorns in their thousands crunching underfoot, as I get back from a walk and start thinking about a soup to match the colour and the feel of early autumn.
Pumpkins are on the stalls with their cousins–butternut and spaghetti squash. It’s a heart-warming sight for me. It helps make the gear change from summer to autumn into something positive.
The man who delivered our winter supply of wood for the fireplace presented us his home-grown pumpkin.
So here’s the soup as it appears in my third book–Mediterranean Cooking for Diabetics (but useful for all who like to cook simple, healthy food.)*
Just looking at that colour warms you up!
Adapted from a recipe in Leaves from our Tuscan Kitchen–a peek into the daily ways of cooking in a Tuscan villa in the late 19th century.
2 to 3 serving
1lb/450gms pumpkin–roughly-chopped with its skin (HOORAY!)
1 medium onion–peeled and roughly-chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 generous pint stock (I use organic vegetable stock cubes.)
salt and pepper
- Place the onion and the pumpkin pieces in a saucepan with the olive oil.
- Add the spices with the salt and pepper.
- Turn everything over, cover and sweat over a low heat for 20 minutes to soften the vegetables.
- Add the stock and cook uncovered for a further 20 minutes or so, until the pumpkin is tender enough to liquidize.
- Liquidize the mix–best done with a stick mixer (saves much washing up!)
- A garnish of chopped parsley is a nice touch in each bowl–or a teaspoon of cream or plain yogurt swirled in.
- Brown bread–one slice per person–cut into croutons and sautéed in a little olive oil with pinch of salt and cumin powder
- Meredith suggests sautéed bacon bits would be good too.
*new subtitle!
Robin Ellis 