As today is Halloween, we have a classic 'winter warmer' style of soup made with pumpkin and black beans.
This is easy to prepare and ideal as a warming meal for anyone going out 'trick or treating', or merely for anyone who wants a delicious warming vegetarian dish (if you omit the ham) that is more substantial than your typical soup.
Just to show that pretty much any part of the pumpkin (apart from the stem) can be used, this soup is garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds.
If you do not want to use alcohol, you could substitute the sherry by unsweetened raw apple juice.
Black Bean Pumpkin Soup Recipe
Serves: 6–8
Ingredients:
1.2kg (4 cups) cooked black beans (tinned is fine)200g (1 cup) tinned chopped tomatoes, drained
200g (1 1/4 cups) onion, finely chopped
75g shallots, minced
5 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
115g (1 stick) unsalted butter
1l (4 cups) beef broth
440g (1 1/2 cups) pumpkin purée (either fresh or tinned)
120ml dry sherry
225g (1/2 lb) ham, cut into 3mm (1/8 in) dice
4 tbsp sherry vinegar
toasted pumpkin seeds, to garnish
sour cream, to garnish
Method:
Combine the black beans and tomatoes in a food processor. Pulse to chop, then purée lightly (do not make the mix too smooth).Melt the butter in a 6l, heavy-based pan. Add the onion, shallot, garlic, cumin, salt and black pepper and cook gently over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 6 minutes or until the onion is soft and is beginning to brown around the edges.
At this point, stir in the bean and tomato purée along with the beef broth, pumpkin purée and the sherry. Mix well to combine, then bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the soup is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Just before serving add the ham and sherry vinegar. Bring the soup back to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly, for a few minutes, or until all the ingredients are heated through.
Season the soup to taste with salt and black pepper, ladle into warmed soup bowls, garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds and a dollop of sour cream then serve.
If you want more pumpkin recipes, including rare recipes from around the world, and ways of preparing every part of the pumpkin, why not visit the Celtnet Pumpkin recipes and information page?
As a thank-you for reading this Halloween-themed recipe (and hopefully preparing it!), I have teamed with the Celtnet Recipes website to give anyone who wants it a completely free eBook of Halloween recipes. Simply go to the download your free Halloween recipes eBook and grab your copy today, absolutely no strings attached.
This is the largest eBook of soup recipes ever assembled. With over 1000 soup recipes divided into all the classic soup types.
In addition you get a chapter on the history of soups, with example historic recipes from the stone age right up to the 1880s. Indeed, in the historic chapter there are soup recipes from the stone age, medieval period, Tudor period, Stuart Period, Georgian period and Victorian period, over 160 authentic historic soups covering the entire history of soup making in Europe.
You also get chapters on African soups and Oriental soups, covering the soups of the entire continent of Africa as well as east and southeast Asia (Indian soups are dealt with in a chapter on Curried soups.
There are also chapters on the classic soups, like cream soups, chowders, vegetarian soups, vegetable soups, meat soups, fish and seafood soups, chicken soups, winter warmers and spring soups. In addition you get chapters on more unusual soups like fruit soups and chilled soups. The book is also dotted with recipes for wild food based soups, which are easily accessible from the index.
Every classic and traditional soup type is dealt with in this ebook! Get you copy today and help this blog and the Celtnet Recipes website keep going.
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