Carrot and pumpkin, next to leek and tomatoes are probably the most obvious vegetables to make soup with, but we don’t mind, do we? It is and stays after all a proven top-notch combination. Never change a winning team, right? 🙂 Or maybe just a little, by playing with the seasoning and the garniture for example, something we did in this recipe.

‘Forgotten vergetables’

Most people know by now that carrots do not necessarily have to be orange. You will often find yellow or purple carrots at the ‘forgotten vegetables’ selection in the supermarket. They indicate that autumn is there, which is the perfect season to purchase all these colourful carrots. For our soup, we do start with orange carrots and we will use mini-carrots with their green tops on and yellow and purple carrots for the finishing touch.

Simple soup, Mediterranean flavors

The base of the recipe is the soup, but next to carrot and pumpkin we will also need various herbs. By adding garlic, red peppers, cumin, and coriander you will give the soup a Moroccan-like flavour, combining nicely with the vegetables we have selected for this soup. If you would like the Moroccan flavour to stand out even more, then finish the soup off with coriander leaves, adding balance and freshness. By adding nuts and seeds you will get more bite and structure, which is very nice indeed!

Ingredients

• 500 gr carrots
• 500 gr pumpkin
• Around 8 mini-sized carrots in various colours (e.g. yellow and purple), preferably with green tops
• 1 leek stalk
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 0,5 red pepper with seeds
• 1 small potato cut into cubes
• 3 bouillon cubes
• 1,5 litres of water
• Seeds (e.g. pumpkin or sunflower seeds), nuts, seeds, raisins (pre packaged nuts and seed mixes are often a very nice mixture)
• Olive oil
• Cress
• Sage
• Cumin powder
• Coriander powder
• Coriander leaves (optional)

How to make this carrot-pumpkin soup?

• Saute the onion, garlic, leek, potato, and red pepper in olive oil
• Add the carrots and the pumpkin. Keep the coloured carrots aside.
• Stew for two to three minutes.
• Add the bouillon cubes and the water. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes on low heat.
• Meanwhile, steam the coloured carrots for about 10 minutes. The cooking time depends on the size of the vegetables, so make sure to stick a fork in the carrots after 8 minutes to check if they are done.
• Mix the soup. To obtain a smooth texture it is best to use a food processor or blender at maximum speed.
• Pour the soup in a deep plate and finish off with a piece of coloured carrot, cress, nuts and seeds. Olive oil and pepper will add the finishing touch.