I’m back with some Scrumptious Saturday treats! 😀 A couple of weeks ago, I got into my head to make soups. I love having hearty soups outside, but they always add cream and when I have too much of it, it upsets my tummy. Darned lactose intolerance!
So, I got it into my head to make my own, sans cream. I had some leftover pumpkin from my roasted pumpkin experiment so I decided to make pumpkin soup. Then, the following day, feeling a bit more adventurous, I went with broccoli soup. The latter is the easiest, quickest soup I’ve ever made and its a recipe from Gordon Ramsay 😀 If you’re interested, here’s how I made both soups. Very scrumptious!
Pumpkin Soup
My chat buddy LeGeeque told me how she made her pumpkin soup extraordinaire but I decided to be a bit more adventurous. So mine takes a little more work initially, but you get lots of flavour to it.
What you need:
- Half a small pumpkin (I used a local one)
- Some mixed herbs
- Sea salt or just plain salt
- Pepper
- Olive Oil
- Water or stock
- Toasted sunflower seeds
Serves 1 personHow to:
- Slice the pumpkin into slices or chunks. Smaller slices cook faster. I leave the skin on because its so hard to peel, but you can remove it if you like.
- Toss the pumpkin slices or chunks with olive oil, sea salt, pepper and sprinkle some dried mixed herbs
- Pop into an oven at 200° for about 20 minutes until the pumpkin is soft and cooked through.
- Scrape the pumpkin off the skin into a pot. Add some water or stock, to your preference. If you prefer something more watery, add more water/stock. If you prefer something thicker and heartier, add less.
- Bring to the boil and then mash the pumpkin. This results in a more fibrous soup. Alternatively, use a hand blender to blend the soup into a smooth mixture, or pour it into a blender and blend till smooth.
- Pour, garnish with toasted sunflower seeds or pine nuts and serve with toasted bread or a dollop of cream if you prefer
When I don’t feel very hungry, this is a good one dish meal. It is hearty enough to be filling and I eat all the pulp and fibre anyway so there’s no wastage
Broccoli Soup
If you google recipes for Broccoli Soup, the one that pops up the most is the Gordon Ramsay 5 minute Broccoli Soup. I was quite sceptical about it but I gave it a go, because it only involves 3 ingredients and 5 minutes of your time. Granted, its not a soup in the true sense, but I enjoyed it very much because the fresh green taste appealed to my taste buds. I can see that some people may not enjoy it at all.
You need:
- Water
- Salt
- 1 head of broccoli
Serves 1 person
How to:
- Generously salt the water in a pot and bring it to the boil.
- Chop up the head of broccoli and add to the boiling salted water.
- When broccoli is cooked, remove from water and place into a blender. Add about the salted water you used to cook the broccoli in to about half the amount of broccoli in the blender.
- Blend, pour and serve.
This is one of the fastest soups I’ve ever made. If you prefer, you can add some feta or goats cheese into the soup which means it goes into the blender with the broccoli. That results in something more creamy. You can also add some cream if you like. I took it plain and it tastes of, well, salted broccoli! I drizzled some truffle oil for added flavour and it did make it more tasty.
I had some leftover and the following day, I sauteed some chicken fillets with lots of onion and added it into the soup, turning it into something approximating a green stew. It was delish! 😀
I’m going to try mushroom soup next. The problem with mushroom soup is that the ingredients are so expensive so I’m quite hesitant to experiment. A mistake can be very costly 😛
Have you made either soup before? Do you have ideas on how they can be improved on or what other sort of soups I can try to make? You have to admit, this is also a quick and easy way to get my vegetable intake 😀
Paris B
Scrumptious Saturday: One day of the week where I indulge in my other love – Food! It will feature my cooking experiments or eating and travel adventures.
Oh my gosh, it’s like deja vu! I saw the picture of the two soups you posted and was reminded of the pumpkin and broccoli soup combo I made weeks ago. Same color scheme!
Freaky, much? 🙂
Haha great minds and all that 😀
I love pumpkin soup. I’m going to try roasting the pumpkin instead of steaming it which is what I do now. Wonder if that makes a difference to the aroma. Sometimes when I feel like it, I add a dash of curry powder to the soup and I really like the combination.
Do you have any recommendations for a hand held blender? Been looking for one but I can’t seem to find them at department stores. Maybe I’m a bit “blind” lol!
My other favourite is tomato soup so hoping to see a tried and tested recipe pop up here. 🙂
I’m also looking for a hand held blender! I used it when I was overseas and it was amazing. Can’t seem to find it anywhere here
You can try ‘Kitchen Shop”. Saw them selling it the handheld blender. Not sure which brand. I think it might be either KitchenAid or Kenwood. I think the price is roughly around RM400-RM600.
psst! Try any electrical shop. I see a few by Braun and Kenwood or even Pensonic 🙂
Apparently there are based on the replies below. Looks like we’re both kinda blind! LOL
Apparently there are based on the replies below. Looks like we’re both kinda blind! LOL
Roasting the pumpkin brings out the sweetness for me, because of the slightly caramelized edges. Adds a slightly smokey tinge to the soup 🙂 I wanted to add some paprika or chilli powder or even curry powder but had none on hand. I would imagine it’d taste divine if you did! 😀 I haven’t found my hand held blender yet actually. You can find a good selection at most electrical stores. I had one from Braun I bought as a student that served me for many years but it’s dead now and I’ve yet to replace it 😀 I had some excellent gazpacho soup recently. I’m going to try making that soon & will share when I do (provided it turns oue 😉 )
Thanks for the tip!
I love gazpacho (my first taste was in Barcelona) although I come across very few others who do.
Looking forward to more Scrumptious Saturdays! I’ve been in a kitchen mood lately and been trying out a few dishes (usually modified from the original recipe). In fact, I’m just about to tuck into chapati with my own version of “dhal” which I made with chickpeas instead of lentils since I don’t like the latter! LOL! Sacrilegeous much? Food purists would probably have quite a bit to say!
Yes! Few people like gazpacho because a) is cold and soups are meant to be hot! and b) tomato can be very sour. But on a hot day, its a lovely soup to have and not many places do it well. I’m glad you are enjoying the Scrumptious Saturdays posts Isabel 🙂 It encourages me to cook too where I can. Oh and as for food purists, I say pbfftt! We make do with what we have and we eat what we like – you could have just created a new dish! 😀
I love soups! Being Cantonese, my family have soup with dinner almost every night. I don’t cook them as much as I’d like now, but that’s just laziness on my part. I’m more of a fan of Chinese soups than Asian ones, although I adore a good, chunky mushroom one 🙂
For mushroom soups, I reckon the regular white mushrooms will do. Don’t have to spend a lot of money on Portabello or Porcini mushies. I like to have some chopped celery with with my mushroom soup. Finish with a tiny drizzle of truffle oil, and you’ll have a really amazing soup 🙂
I do Chinese soups more too. I boil a lot of herbal soups because its easy – herbs are dried and can be used anytime see? I don’t usually do western soups due to the cream in them but now that I do non cream soups, my tummy’s happy 🙂 As for mushrooms, actually the white ones are pretty pricey here too. The fresh shiitake are much cheaper but they don’t make good soup 🙁
Saw someone made green peas soup on tv some time ago, using frozen peas … since I like peas, was thinking going to try cook it myself and frozen peas are easy to get. But now, I can’t recall what are the ingredients oredy…. end of story. ^_^
Haha! That one’s easy – frozen peas, boil them, mush them or blend them with some salt and pepper and maybe some garlic, add some cream if you like and serve 😀 Pretty much like the broccoli soup 🙂
Your recipe is so simple! I love soup! It is good for brunch or when I lack of appetite for solid food. Would love to try both!!! best if someone can prepare it for me though. hahahaha…
Haha do the Broccoli one. Super easy and done in 5 minutes 😀 I’m all for quick and easy foods so most of my cooking isn’t very complicated 😉
eh…? where’s the cream and the milk to make it a creamy soup? especially for the pumpkin… :9
Sorry, Paris. I just saw the words ‘lactose-intolerance’. I understand now why you exclude dairy products. *slaps forehead twice*
haha yep! No cream and cheese for me although it does add a lovely smooth flavour to the soups 🙂
I will try this out next time I come across pumpkin or brocolli 🙂 I personally don’t like pumpkin much 🙁
I never used to like pumpkin either but I’ve lately developed a liking for it. I think its to do with how you cook it. Roasting it brings out the sweetness and its lovely! Try it and see 🙂
Lol, broccoli soup! My mother will love you for it 🙂 I am quite a strange soup person; maybe it’s my Hokkien heritage and soup is not a must-have for dinner…but my mum is a nutritious soup lover and maker lol, so we get to sip a variety of herbal, “cleansing”, “purifying”, “cooling” and other specialty soup from her own recipe. Salted vegetable soup with tofu or mixed poultry is one of my favourite! I call it the 100 days soup because it’s the standard soup every other day during Chinese New Year! So I am more used to drinking Chinese soup thank Western soup (thick & creamy). I only drink clear soup, some soup which are “cloudy” upsets me. Yes, I am spoilt that way 😛
But as I grow up and get exposed to complete Western dining with appetizer/soup and main course, I’ve learnt to try Western soup lol. I love onion soup and freshly made mushroom soup. The Pizza Hut or instant ones scares me with lumps of undissolved souplets blergh :S
Now you got me curious on the pumpkin soup 🙂 I’ve seen it on the menu but haven’t try. Happy experimenting with your mushroom soup tee hee hee.
Ooh yummy! I’d love for my mom to boil soups. She didn’t pick it up till relatively recently and even then she only specialised in a few types of Chinese soups LOL But then my mom is a perfectionist cook so maybe thats why. You’re lucky to have such delicious soups waiting for you – I’d kill for a simple cloudy soup LOL! 😀 Don’t do the powdered soups like the ones fast food places serve. Its awful and a poor representation of the real thing. A good freshly made soup is lovely and fragrant 😀
You’re right indeed. Mushroom soup would be an expensive mistake, if gone wrong. 😛
I’ve always wanted to try and make my own pumpkin soup. Maybe I should try your recipe next week. 😉 But I don’t have a blender (how lame is that?). So, it’d be good old manual mashing for me. 😀
I mashed it by hand and its not hard because the pumpkin is already so soft from roasting. Hope the recipe works out for you! 😀
I love blender Western soups! I must try the broccoli one like maybe tomorrow? haha! I have made blended tofu soup, add carrot and olive oil. Love these stuff.
Did you manage to try the broccoli soup? Its super easy although I’ve read that some people found it too green 😀
One thing I like about autumn is soup! Can’t wait for pumpkins to be back on the market. I also really really love to make mushroom soup with brown/wild mushrooms!
Oh to live in a country where mushrooms are affordable 🙁 But autumn will be here soon (much to your dismay) so pumpkins will be in stock – yay!
Mushroom soup is the easiest to make IMO. Although I do need a recipe for that. However, the bad part is the amount of ingredients needed and the price of it. But regardless, the end result – it tastes just like Campbell’s Mushroom Soup. 😀
Aww I wouldn’t be too pleased if it came out tasting like Campbells actually LOL I find Campbells too processed so I tend to go for the chunky wild mushroom soups that have a lot of bits in them 😀 The cream factor does put me off though and mushroom soups do need the cream or it just doesn’t work 🙁
Awesome! I shall keep these posts in mind when I go overseas – hurray for quick, easy meal fixes!
Indeed! And when you do go overseas, depending on where you are, the ingredients may be even cheaper and easier to find! 😀
Now you’ve made me crave Broccoli Soup with shrimps!!! LOVE!
Ooh with shrimps! I’m going to try that next 😀
You can try to squeeze a bit of fresh orange juice to the pumpkin soup! Brings a touch of freshness that is absolutely delish!
Now that’s an idea! Thanks!
Since you’re planning the blend the mushrooms, what I usually do is poke around in the bargain bin in places like Cold Storage or Village Grocer and pick up those mushrooms that look a bit scruffy and are going for cheap.
Thanks, I’ll take a look! 🙂 I’ve never really seen the mushrooms go on a discount which is why I never thought to look but I will next time.
Have you tried delia smith’s soup recipe? I call them fail-proof even for beginners like myself. I made pumpkin soup much the same way as your method, except that I sautéed chopped onions over slow fire for about 30 mins (less if I’m in a hurry) and add milk to onions. When the milk is about to boil add in those roasted pumpkin flesh. The rest is the same. 🙂 both my children love it and my 2 year old even enjoys preparing the pumpkin before roasting. (yeah I let her mess around with poking them pumpkins, spreading olive oil on it with her fingers and sprinkle salt/pepper on it.) 🙂
Hi Ting, nope I haven’t tried delia smith’s but I’ll look it up 🙂 Your recipe sounds easy and nice too!