I have often found comfort in different soups. Food as a whole holds memories, it holds our happiness, grief, excitement, pain and even our most cherished times. Soup in particular has a way of being the soothing hug on a cold day or the supportive friend when you are ill. It is a dish that speaks of home. Soups are that longing embrace that makes us feel like we belong. Each kind of soup I make has a story that evokes the deepest emotions. A soup is not just another dish. It is a silent hero in world of healing. And I have foudn that many people have this connection to pumpkin soup.

This recipe is one that works best at the end of winter. I use ingredients that are either coming to the end of its season or ones that are coming into season. A trasitionary soup if you will. It is a comforting soup, like so many are, and it is still wonderful after freezing or pressure canning. If you are going to can, refrain from adding the cream until you reheat it again. I hope you enjoy this end of winter pumpkin soup.

• 1 + 1/2 cup Pumpkin
• 3 Turnips
• Garlic (to taste)
• 1 Leek
• 1 Fresh chilli
• 3 Carrots (medium)
• 3 Apricot (optional)
• Salt & pepper (to taste)
• Honey (to taste)
• 2 tblspns Sesame oil
• 1/4 cup Butter
• 1/2 cup Cream
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup Tomato puree
• 1 tblsp Sweet paprika
• 1 tsp Coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 2 cups Chicken broth

• Slice your onion and leeks, then chop your carrots.
• Place a medium to large pot on the stove on a medium to low heat. Add oil and butter to the pan. you can opt for ghee, coconut oil, avocado oil, even a touch of lard if you really wanted.
• Once the butter has melted, add in the onion, leeks and carrots.
• While those simmer away, peel and chop your turnips. Specifically peeled as the skin can add and intense bitter flavour, alternatively you can use a potato or two.
•  Now slice up your apricots. Note that apricots do add a sour flavour to the soup. I add in honey later to balance it out. However, if you want to avoid that just leave it out entirely.
• When the onions and leeks have softened and taken on a bit of colour, you can add the turnips and apricots to the pot.
• Now take your pumpkin to the chopping board. Peel/cut the skin off and cut of the flesh. You can discard the seeds are use them for roasting.
• Add the cream and tomato puree to your pot.
• Then the chopped pumpkin, the spices and broth goes in. Add the spices before adding in the broth for a 30-second toast in the pot.
• Leave it to simmer until all of the vegetables have softened enough to be blended.
• When the vegetables are ready you can go ahead and blend the soup to your desired consistency. At this stage you can also add in the honey, plain yogurt and coconut milk. A tip, if you want a smoother texture you can add in a couple of cubes of butter while blending.
• Serve with a bit of cream or coconut cream on top accompanied with flatbread, homemade bread, toast or what ever you prefer.