Bloke's Cookbook - Spicy Pumpkin and Parsnip Soup

2009 promises to be a year of financial ruin for the globe, riots, wars and almost certain death for all of us. You'll need to face it with some hot soup in you.

This recipe is easy, and cheap, and should defrost you on these bitter winter nights. Make it on Sunday evening, leave it in the pan overnight, and either warm it up and put it in a Thermos to take with you to work, or have it when you get home.

If you don't like pumpkin - or think you don't - don't worry and prepare to be surprised.

You will need:

3 medium parsnips (around 600g peeled weight)
600g(ish) of pumpkin;
A medium onion;
hot water and stock cubes to make around a pint of stock;
Ground paprika (smoked or unsmoked);
Ground cayenne pepper;
Olive oil;
A big ole saucepan;
A food processor;
A sharp knife;
A wooden spoon;
A potato peeler;
A serving spoon.


This should make 4 bowls. If you want more, just scale up the numbers.

Cut open the pumpkin, and use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds. Cut off the skin with a sharp knife, and dice the pumpkin in to pieces around an inch cubed. Peel the parsnips, and chop to roughly the same size.

Finely chop the onion. Toss a glug of olive oil in to the saucepan, turn the hob up to medium, add the onion, and fry gently for several minutes until the onion turns translucent.

Make your stock with hot water and the cube.

Put the parsnip and pumpkin in the pot, stir everything together and let it cook for a minute or two.

Now add the stock, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot to get any of the scrapings off.

Turn the heat down to a gentle simmer, put a lid on the pot and leave for at least 40 minutes, and as long as 3 hours.

Once it's cooked, use the food processor to whizz it to soup consistency. If, at this point, it gets too thick, add some more water.

Now add a tablespoon of paprika, and as much cayenne pepper as you like - a teaspoon or so will be plenty for most people. Stir in well because there's nothing more likely to make your eyes water than a little ball of cayenne pepper.

Et voila! I like to eat this with a very crusty granary bread.

Drink with: A dark, oaky red wine. A suitable grape might be the Chilean Carmenere.

Ease of cooking and preparation: 4/5 - Easy.

Mess Factor: 4/5 - One large pot, one food mixer, one spoon.

Leftover value: 4/5 - The flavour improves the next day, but you'll need to warm it.

2008 roundup, and 2009 pledges

2008 has been a significant year for me, cookery-wise. I've broadened my techniques, my tastes and have experimented with some very old-fashioned concepts which appear to be making a resurgence, like eating seasonal food, making preserves and relying on only the very best ingredients (and paying a fair price for them).

An exhausting round of Christmas cookery has left me at a bit of a loss for what to start on next, but I'll pick up some inspiration over the next few weeks.

This year's successes:

Making my own plum jam and chutney;
Finding quinces (for free);
Finding a local farmers' market with the freshest vegetables and the best Kent apples;
Roasted beetroot;

However, there've also been plenty of dreadful failures, such as:

Stollen that turned out like a raisin-filled cosh;
Membrillo that needed 3 days of washing in hot water to melt it out of the pot I made it in;
A lasagne that was both undercooked and burned at the same time;


For 2009, I'll do my best to add a recipe a week to the Bloke's Cookbook.