It must be autumn: Pumpkin Soup

Autumn has won the battle for my favourite season. I love the weather, the fashions and the food, especially pumpkin soup. I decided to make some a few Sundays ago and found a recipe for red lentil and pumpkin soup on the always handy recipe site, Taste.com.au. After a post-church pumpkin buying excursion with a friend, I made a few modifications, incorporating the ingredients we had on hand at home and some suggestions from other Taste users to make my Hot Pumpkin and Lentil Soup.

Ingredients and trusty "recipe book" all ready to go

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion
1.4 kg pumpkin
3/4 cup red lentils
2 medium carrots
1 tbsp curry powder
10g vegetable stock powder
5g garlic butter
1.3 litres water

Fry onion then add curry powder

Method
1. Fry onion until just browning or getting soft
2. Add curry powder and garlic butter
3. Add 300 mL of water
4. Add washed red lentils and allow to soften while preparing vegetables
5. Chop pumpkin and soften slightly in microwave with a dash of water
6. Same for carrots

Leave covered to simmer

7. Add vegetables, remaining litre of water and vegetable stock powder
8. Bring to boil and then allow to simmer until pumpkin, carrot and lentils are fully softened
9. Blend soup in portions -- however much your blender will take!

Blend, blend, blend

10. Leave to simmer and thicken. Serve warm with a dolop of sour cream if you wish

Hot Pumpkin and Lentil Soup

Notes
It makes quite a spicy soup and next time I think I'll halve the curry powder and add more carrots and pumpkin. After 3-4 servings, I added another half a kilo of pumpkin. It probably gave around 15 serves of just under 200g each.