A friend of ours made us the most mouth-watering ginger pumpkin “velouté” the other night and I was so grateful. Not just because she made it onion and garlic free (unfortunately, I can’t digest either!) but also because it reminded just how much I love soup in autumn. There is just something so comforting and utterly delicious about having a big bowl of it now that the “cooler” temperatures are slowly making their way back to Dubai.
When I hijacked the recipe to recreate it, I also took the opportunity to try something I have been curious about for the longest time: coconut “bacon”. I know, I know, it’s not the real thing, but it actually goes wonderfully well with the gingery taste of this soup. That being said, the fatty taste of the coconut and smoked paprika are magic together so I will be assuredly tossing this on some upcoming winter salads too….
Ingredients
Soup
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove (optional)
- 4 cups pumpkin, cubed
- Filtered water
- 3 tbsp minced ginger
- 3/4 cups of coconut milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- Salt, pepper to taste
- 3 tb
Coconut “bacon”
- 1/2 cup dry coconut flakes (not grated coconut but actual flakes)
- 1/2 tsp tamari sauce (or soy if you prefer)
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- a pinch of smoked paprika
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- In a big pot, saute the minced garlic with olive oil over medium heat for a minute
- Add pumpkin and coat with oil
- Add water until it covers the pumpkin and ginger. Let simmer until well cooked through, adding water as necessary. This should take around 15 minutes
- Meanwhile mix all the coconut “bacon” ingredients together until coconut is well coated and place on a cookie sheet, spreading it out
- Insert cookie sheet in oven for around 10 minutes, tossing regularly until it reaches a dark golden color. Set aside to cool and crisp.
- Strain pumpin/ginger mixture and put the remaining water aside
- Put the pumpkin/ginger mix in a blender (I used my brand-spanking new Vitamix but any good old blender will do), blending until perfectly smooth and adding coconut milk gradually, until you have the desired thickness
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- To serve, laddle soup in a bowl and sprinkle with coconut “bacon” and cilantro
