Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Warm up with this nourishing Spiced Pumpkin & Lentil Soup, a wholesome recipe packed with flavour, fibre and plant-based goodness. Roasting the pumpkin and vegetables before blending brings out their natural sweetness and creates a rich, caramelised depth of flavour that you simply can't achieve by boiling alone.

The addition of the red lentils and Greek yoghurt help to boost the protein, fibre and creamy texture of this recipe - making it both satisfying and budget friendly. Perfect for meal prep or a cosy winter night and high in Vitamin-C to keep your immune system fighting strong during the cooler days.

Serves 4

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Ingredients:

• 1 butternut pumpkin, cut into quarters

• 1 large carrot, diced

• 2 red capsicums, halved and seeds removed

• 1 punnet cherry tomatoes

• 1 red onion, halved

• ½ cup olive oil

• 1 tablespoon ground cumin

• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika

• Generous pinch of salt & pepper

• 1-2 heads of garlic

• 1 cup canned lentils, drained and rinsed

• 3 cups vegetable stock, salt reduced

• 200mL light coconut milk

• 1 cup Greek yoghurt

• Fresh parsley leaves, chopped

To serve:

• Greek yoghurt

• Sourdough

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Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking dish with baking paper. Arrange pumpkin, carrot, capsicum and tomatoes in the baking dish. Generously drizzle olive oil over vegetables, sprinkle with cumin, paprika, salt and pepper.

2. Slice the top of the head of garlic off to expose the cloves. Wrap in foil and drizzle generously with olive oil before completely closing the foil. Add to the baking dish and place in the oven for 40 minutes or until pumpkin in soft enough to scoop out.

3. Remove baking dish from oven and allow to cool slightly. Remove skin off capsicum and transfer to flesh to a blender along with pumpkin flesh, tomatoes and carrot. Remove foil from garlic head and squeeze cloves into blender. Blitz until smooth. Add the lentils, stock and coconut milk and blend until emulsified. Taste test and season to your preference.

4. If soup requires extra heating, transfer to a large saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Transfer to serving bowls and serve with toasted sourdough, a generous dollop of Greek yoghurt and parsley.

Benefits:

High fibre recipe, winter-warming recipe, vitamin-C rich