Pumpkin Soup

Soup is easy to make, once you follow a few simple rules. All too often, people fill a saucepan with vegetables and water and boil it for hours. This is the cardinal mistake. The best base for most soups is carrots, leeks, onion, and celery. After this, you can add in any other ingredients according to taste — but never use old, leftover vegetables to make soup.

When making soup, the first thing I do is sweat the vegetables off in the saucepan. This allows the larger pieces of vegetables to become partially roasted in the saucepan, and it gives them a much deeper flavour.

I have a couple of ‘get out of jail free’ soup ingredients. Chilli flakes, added sparingly, add some heat without unpleasant spiciness. They really suit robust rootvegetable soups. Chopped root ginger also adds a warming kick.

Exercise caution when adding the liquids. It is easier to add more liquid at the end to thin out a thick soup, than it is to thicken a soup that is too thin.

This recipe was inspired by the bowl of pumpkin soup I was greeted with when I completed one of Ireland’s toughest endurance challenges, last month — Reign of Terror in Kells, Co Kilkenny.

Serves 6 You will need:

2 carrots 1 leek 1 large pumpkin, with the skin and seeds removed 1 large sweet potato ½ medium onion 1 tablespoon butter 2 cloves of garlic, chopped ¼-½ teaspoon crushed chilli flakes Salt and freshly ground black pepper 75ml pouring cream 1.2L chicken or vegetable stock 100g smoked bacon lardons, fried, to serve 1 Peel and chop the carrots, the leek, the pumpkin, the sweet potato and the onion into chunky pieces. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat, and add the chopped vegetables and the chopped garlic. Mix thoroughly and allow them to roast in the saucepan for 6-8 minutes. Stir constantly to prevent them from sticking. 2 Add the crushed chilli flakes and season lightly with some salt and freshly ground black pepper. 3 Add the cream and two-thirds of the chicken stock or vegetable stock, whichever you’re using. Bring the pot to the boil and then reduce the soup to a steady simmer. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until all the vegetables have softened. 4 Blitz the soup until smooth, adjusting the consistency with the remaining third of the stock, if required. 5 Taste and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. If you wish, add more chilli flakes. Put in bowls to serve, and sprinkle with the fried smoked bacon lardons.