Winter soups

This butternut pumpkin, orange and ginger soup reminds me of our years spent living in Connecticut, and I love to make it when autumn arrives. Our neighbours would  decorate their front porches with fat, squat clusters of pumpkins, squash and gourds as soon as the leaves started to drop. They stayed there for Halloween and through to Thanksgiving until the snow began to fall.

The soup is easy to make as you can just use a stick blender to puree it. It has a rich flavour with a little heat from the ginger and sweetness from the orange. Don’t discard the pumpkin seeds. Sprinkle them with sea salt and toast them in a frypan. They’re delicious on top of the soup, sprinkled over salads or roasted vegetables, or just on their own. You may like to mellow the soup a little with a little cream, but I like the soup just as it is.

The Origins of Butternut Pumpkin

The Americans call them butternut squash. They have been cultivated by the indigenous people of North and South America for thousands of years. In fact, the word squash comes from the Native American Naragansett word askutasquash, meaning “eaten raw or uncooked.”

Butternut pumpkin is actually a type of winter squash, which means that it’s harvested and eaten in the mature fruit stage when the seeds within have matured fully and the skin has hardened into a tough rind. When ripe, the flesh turns a deep orange, and becomes sweeter and richer. Butternut pumpkins will store for two to three months, so they’re a trusty vegetable to have on hand for use in soups, for roasting, or in baking.

Other Recipes for Pumpkin

Here is another pumpkin soup recipe for you to make.

If you like using pumpkin in baking, you might like to try this pumpkin and date scone recipe.

Best wishes,

Amanda

PS: If you’ve tried this butternut pumpkin, orange and ginger soup or any other recipe on At Amanda’s Table, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below.  If you’d like to read more, please subscribe to my monthly newsletter for stories, recipes and tips for simple, nutritious meals.

Print Recipe

Butternut Pumpkin, Orange and Ginger Soup

A nourishing winter soup with a hint of ginger and orange

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Servings: 6 people

Author: Amanda Lawson

Ingredients

• 1 butternut pumpkin, skin and seeds removed (about 900 g) cut into small chunks reserve the seeds for toasting
• 1 brown onion, peeled and diced
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 orange, zested, and flesh cut into chunks
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 l vegetable stock
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan and sauté onion with a pinch of salt for about 5 minutes until translucent.
• Add orange zest and grated ginger to the onions and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Add the chopped pumpkin and stir everything together.
• Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Lower the heat to medium, cover and cook for about 20 minutes until the pumpkin feels soft when pierced with a knife.
• Remove from the heat allow the soup to cool for about 10 minutes then puree with a handheld blender. Season to taste, reheat and serve.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

• Wash the pumpkin seeds, removing any remaining pieces of pumpkin flesh and pat dry.
• Sprinkle with a little sea salt, then dry toast them in a small frypan until they're golden.
• Sprinkle over the soup just before serving.

Notes

The soup will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. It is suitable to freeze.