Cressida's Freefrom Halloween Pumpkin Soup

Corn, egg, gluten, lactose, milk, nightshade, nut, peanut, sesame & wheat free

Foods Matter's Cressida has a three-year-old little boy, so she is very keen on Hallowe'en! Here is her pumpkin soup – and she has also come up with a delicous recipe for pumpkin pie!

Pumpkins. They're huge, they're heavy and sometimes it is difficult to know what to do with them. Here is a simple recipe for pumpkin soup that will warm the triumphant returning trick or treaters on the coldest and spookiest night of the year.

The size of your pumpkin, and how much flesh you are able to carve (scoop is too gentle a word for this task) out before your children die of exasperation and seize the pumpkin to sculpt their scary faces, will determine how much soup you make.

Since pumpkins are in season and therefore cheap at this time of year you may just want to buy yourself a whole pumpkin and work uninterrupted - all fine and good as the soup is freezable, plus you can always add in any extra flesh. Cutting the rind off is infinitely easier than risking bleeding knuckles by scraping out the flesh. Save as many of the seeds as possible for the garnish, or as a delicious hot snack.

IngredientsFreefrom pumpkin soup

  • 2 kilos / 4lbs pumpkin flesh, without the rind
  • 3 tbsp mixed spice
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 litre / 4 cups of stock made by combining 1 litre / 4 cups Kara coconut milk and two gluten-free chicken/vegetable stock cubes
  • 2 tablespoons gluten-free soya sauce
  • salt and black pepper, freshly ground

To garnish

  • pumpkin seeds
  • salt and oil

Method

  1. Put the oil and spices in the pan, and mix up on a medium heat.
  2. Quickly add the pumpkin and mix up, making sure that the pumpkin is nicely coated by the oil and spices.
  3. After a couple of minutes, add the coconut milk chicken stock and bring to the boil.
  4. Put a lid on and simmer for half an hour.
  5. Put the mixture in a blender, or blend thoroughly using a hand blender.
  6. Add the soya sauce and salt and lots of black pepper.
  7. Put soup into mugs or bowls and garnish with the pumpkin seeds.
  8. For the garnish, remove any stringy flesh from the pumpkin seeds and drizzle with olive oil and salt.
  9. Mix up the seeds with your hands to make sure they are evenly coated with oil and salt.
  10. Put in the oven at 180C for 25-30 mins, giving them a shake about halfway through to make sure they crisp up all over.
  11. Sprinkle on the soup just before you serve it (they go soggy quickly if left in the soup).
  12. Or just eat as a snack with a glass of spicy red wine whilst you wait for the kids to come back, hyped up and thoroughly over-sugared. YUM.

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