All the sweetness of carrot and pumpkin soup with a smoky bacon background and lots of fresh thyme. This is a winter soup you’re going to love.
I jokingly say that lardons make everything taste good and in this case, it’s the smoky bacon that transforms this soup from an ordinary carrot and pumpkin soup to something rather more special.
This batch was 90% carrot and 10% pumpkin but it would be equally delicious using just carrot or just pumpkin or any mix of both! In my case I had just a little pumpkin lurking in the fridge and this was the perfect opportunity to use it instead of letting it go to waste.
If you don’t eat meat then don’t add the lardons and use veggie stock. It obviously won’t have the smoky flavour that the bacon adds but it will still be delicious. Instead, crumble some Feta or goat’s cheese over the top along with some toasted seeds.
For 4 generous servings you’ll need:
I onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped
About 5 carrots peeled and chopped into small cubes
A quarter of a small orange squash(I mean very small)
100g of smoked lardons (or a large piece cut into small cubes)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
A bunch of fresh thyme
2 teaspoons of chicken stock powder
1 teaspoon of salt
Black pepper to taste
1 cup of milk (optional)
Fresh flat leaf parsley and toasted seeds to serve (optional)
Method
Chop the onion, garlic, carrots and pumpkin and pop them into a saucepan. Add the lardons, one teaspoon of salt, the thyme and one tablespoon of olive oil.
Turn on the heat and give it all a good stir. The salt draws out the liquid in the onion which softens the mixture without browning it. Pop a lid on, turn the heat low and let it sweat for a few minutes. This adds loads of flavour and also allows you to use very little oil.
When it has softened slightly and lovely smells are wafting around the kitchen, cover with water, add the chicken stock powder, some ground black pepper and bring to the boil. Turn the heat low and simmer very gently for about 30 minutes.
Blitz with a hand held blender or pop into a liquidiser if you prefer a really smooth texture.
The soup is now ready to gently reheat. If you want to keep it low(ish) fat then serve it as it is. I added one cup of semi-skimmed milk to thin it down a little and add a little creaminess.
If you want to be extra indulgent then add a swirl of cream at the end.
I garnished with some flat leaf parsley from the garden and a mixture of toasted seeds.
