It's been a while since I posted a new recipe...so how about a nice warming recipe to use up a few ingredients in your fridge. I had a little bit of pumpkin left over from Halloween, so I decided to whip up one of Mr Peachy's favourite soup flavours - Pumpkin and Pepper.
A lovely, spicy soup that I served up with some lovely, crusty onion bread;
Pumpkin and Pepper soup is one of the easiest recipes that uses just a few simple ingredients that you will have lying around. Soup is a great way of using up those few veggie stubs and stock that would otherwise go to waste - food waste is a huge problem faced by UK households at the moment and this is a way of making sure you are not throwing food away unnecessarily.
Ingredients (to serve 2):
400g Pumpkin - chopped
500ml Vegetable Stock
4 Shallots (chopped and halved)
1 Leek (chopped)
1 Red Pepper (halved)
1 tsp Lazy Chillies/Half Fresh Red Chilli
Salt and Pepper to taste
Method
Under the grill on a medium heat, place the two halves of pepper face up and cook for about 15 minutes until the edges are slightly blackened. Remove from the grill and place in a bowl to cool - covering the bowl with clingfilm will also keep the flavour ripe.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat your shallots and leak in a bit of olive oil, cover and cook on a medium heat until softened and slightly browned. Add your pumpkin, chilli and seasoning and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes.
Add your vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Cover and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.
Whilst the soup mixture is simmering, cut the red peppers into small pieces and, when the soup mixture is ready, using a hand blender, add the peppers and blend until the soup is smooth with a little texture.
Serve with crusty bread and butter for a cosy, winter treat!
Welcome to Friday's Kitchen! Back up and running after a minor hiccup with our internet provider last week. I won't dwell on it, we've all been there!
So, it seems we have sprinted headlong into my favourite time of year - autumn leaves, blustery gales and a damn good excuse to get the woollies out. This month, I'm looking at using seasonal fruits and vegetables in my cooking, as I rustle up some wholesome home-cooked treats for those cosy nights in!
And what better way to make a start, than with a seasonal twist on a British classic! Here is my recipe for Pumpkin Bread and Butter Pudding!
I've worked hard on this to combine some really autumnal flavours from the pumpkin and cranberries, with a bit of a zing with the orange zest. It's a really tasty treat and the basic pudding would work well with other seasonal fruits too. It's like Halloween and Christmas all at once! I do hope you enjoy this one and, as ever, if you give it a go yourself please upload your results to the Facebook Page.
Ingredients (serves 4-6):
200g cooked and pureed Pumpkin
125g Butter (melted)
200g (1 large baguette) of Crusty Bread Sliced into about 8 or 9 pieces
100ml Semi Skimmed Milk
200ml Extra Thick Cream
100g Sugar - Caster or Brown
2 Large Eggs and one Egg Yolk
1 Pinch Salt
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tsp Allspice
Zest of One Small Orange
30g Dried Cranberries
Method:
Preheat the oven to 160 C and place your bread pieces in a large casserole dish.
In a bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, milk, cream, sugar and eggs until thickened and incoporated. Beat in the spices and, finally, the cranberries.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and, when completely melted, pour over the bread. Allow to soak for a few minutes.
Pour the pumpkin custard mixture over the bread, ensure that the cranberries are evenly distributed and bake for about 30 minutes.
Serve warm, snuggle up with a feelgood film and thank me later!!
Tried it? Love it? As ever, I would love to know your thoughts!
