Roasted Pumpkin, Sage & Brown Butter Soup

⏱ 55 min · Serves 4

Roasting the pumpkin first concentrates its sweetness, then a nutty brown butter with crisp sage stirred through at the end lifts the whole bowl. Silky, warming and ready in under an hour.

Per serving: 355 kcal · 7.0g protein · 32.0g carbs · 23.0g fat

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 3cm chunks
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt, plus more to taste
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 900 ml vegetable stock, hot
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 50 g unsalted butter
• 12 small sage leaves
• 2 tbsp double cream or coconut cream (optional)
• Black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Toss the pumpkin chunks with 1 tbsp olive oil and the salt on a large baking tray, spreading them out in a single layer. Roast for 30 minutes, turning once, until soft and caramelised at the edges.
2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and carrot with a pinch of salt for 8-10 minutes until soft and golden.
3. Add the garlic, cumin and nutmeg and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
4. Tip in the roasted pumpkin and pour over the hot stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes so the flavours come together.
5. Blend until completely smooth with a stick blender (or in batches in a jug blender). Stir in the cream if using, then season generously with salt and black pepper. Loosen with a splash more stock or water if it is thicker than you like.
6. Melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Once it foams and smells nutty (about 3 minutes), add the sage leaves and fry for 30-60 seconds until crisp. Remove from the heat immediately.
7. Ladle the soup into bowls, spoon over the brown butter and crisp sage, and scatter with toasted pumpkin seeds.