Pumpkin and Roast Pepper Soup

Fancy a simple yet tasty soup to serve as a starter at an up and coming family get together or even to bring a change to your typical weekday packed lunch? This deliciously comforting soup was brought to mind when discovering Arnprior Pumpkins at a local food fayre...

• Start by roasting peppers and garlic cloves in a warm oven (around 180 degrees fan for 15 - 20 minutes) and chop up your pumpkin, three celery sticks and one onion.
• Sweat off your onions and celery in your soup pot and then add your pumpkin chunks.

• After roasting, add your peppers (3 in total) and 2-3 garlic cloves to your pot also. Life is too short to worry about removing the 'bitter' skins, but if you like you can roast your peppers for longer and remove the charred skins adding an even greater sweetness to your soup.

• Once everything has been added to the pot, top up with water throw in a chicken or good quality vegetable stock cube - bring to the boil,  reduce to a simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft.
• Blend your soup in an/with an electric blender until smooth and then taste - season at this point with salt and pepper if you feel it is required.

That's it! Truly simple and certainly worth a visit to you local pumpkin patch - they aren't just for halloween :)

Happy Harvest Everyone x

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