It's mid winter in Hong Kong now and as usual my annual soup making days are continuing into the new year. Though I have made many soups containing pumpkin, I've never actually dedicated a soup just to pumpkin. So here is my first pumpkin soup. The key to this soup is choosing the right pumpkin - I have cooked with various pumpkins and for this particular one I chose a local pumpkin that had a very light flavour! Actually now I look at it, it looks more like Rock Melon! Maybe I should attempt to make Rock Melon soup in the summer! See if you can get a stronger taste for yours...
Chop 1 large onion, 500g of potato and 600g of pumpkin in chunky cubes. Slice the a stalk of celery. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a big soup pot and soften the onion for about 4 - 5 minutes on low heat. Add the potato, pumpkin and celery into the pot, cover and sweat for 10 minutes - stir occassionally to make sure they don't stick to the bottom! Pour 550ml of vegetable stock onto vegetables and bring to boil for about 10 minutes. Add a generous amount of dried or fresh tarragon and a pinch of nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper. Leave to cool a bit before blending it all up.
Once blended stir in 200ml of milk slowly on low heat.
Serve in giant soup bowls next to a fire..... bliss. Or in my case a little space heater!