Umami Pumpkin Soup
Okay so I may be super weird here and come right out and say that this soup is a little bit of a crazy flavour combination… and you may trust me here, or you may not! But I really enjoyed this soup and I hope you trust me enough to give it a try yourself!
Soups warm the soul and this hearty pumpkin soup aims to please.
It is plant-based, gluten free and sugar free.
“Umami” is a term used to describe a flavour profile that is cheesy or meaty, but salty and delicious. I love nutritional yeast and use it for it’s umami, cheese like flavour and that’s what I believe nutritional yeast adds to this soup.
The combination of cashews and nutritional yeast is a classic vegan pairing for mimicking ‘cheesey’ flavours.
The addition of cashews adds some beautiful healthy fats and protein to this soup, making it a well rounded and hearty meal.
The cashews add a nice feeling of texture and the fineness of your soup will ultimately depend on how long you blend the soup with your stick blender. The longer you blend, the smoother it will be.
If you already know that you are not a fan of nutritional yeast… then I dare say this might not be the soup for you, as it is one of the main flavours in this soup.
However if you have never tried it before, maybe now is your chance! Just be careful not to confuse nutritional yeast with brewers years or baking yeast. Nutritional yeast is called savoury yeast flakes here in Australia, this is what we want to use.
Umami Pumpkin Soup
Serves: 4-5
Time: Prep 20 minutes + Cook 1 hour
What you will need:
Soup pot, knives, chopping board, oven, oven trays, measuring utensils, stick blender, wooden spoon.
Ingredients:
1 cup cashews raw or roasted
1.5 cups boiling water
1.5kg (1/4) pumpkin (whichever is your favourite) skin removed, cubed
4 cloves garlic in skin, broken with blade edge
180g brown onion (medium), skinned, cut into 8ths
1.5 tsp dried rosemary
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp pink salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp Massel chicken stock (vegan)
1.5L boiling water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast (start with less, slowly add more depending on taste)
pink salt to season
ground black pepper to season
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
Place the cashews into a bowl and top with 1.5 cups of boiling water. Set aside and cover with a plate to seal in the heat.
Take your cloves of garlic and place onto your chopping board. Take the side of your knifes edge (flat) and lay it on top of your clove. Carefully bang your fist on the edge of the knife to crush the clove. Leave in skin like I do or remove, it’s up to you.
Place the pumpkin, garlic and onion into a large mixing bowl. Next add the rosemary, oil, salt and pepper and mix well.
Prepare two baking trays with baking paper and spread the pumpkin mix between the two. Place into the oven for 45 minutes.
When the pumpkin is done, scrape the contents of the trays into a soup pot on the stove. Add the powdered chicken stock and boiling water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring down to a low heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Remove from the heat. Add the nutritional yeast. Using a stick blender, blend the soup until it is completely smooth. This may take longer depending on the strength of your stick blender.
Taste first, then season with pink salt and pepper if required.
Serve
*I added a little extra nutritional yeast for a more full bodied umami flavour.
I hope you all enjoy this umami take on the classic pumpkin soup!
I’d love to see your creations, so feel free to connect with me via instagram at @stephsanzaro
Happy cooking,
Steph xx