It’s been awhile! Not to sound like a walking cliché, but the holidays have really snuck up on me this time around. Don’t ask me if I’ve started my gift shopping, because as the groundbreaking Canadian-reggae musical group MAGIC! would say in their seminal work “Rude,” “Tough luck my friend, but the answer is no!”
Anyway. Soup is probably my #1 favorite thing to cook/eat this time of year (because it’s so easy to throw together in these busy winter days, and also because homemade soup is just the best). I especially love tomato soup and was planning on cooking some the other night, but also noticed I had some pumpkin puree leftover in the fridge and didn’t want it to go to waste. Guess what? Pumpkin and tomato are great together, especially with all the spices I incorporated. You don’t really taste the pumpkin-ness with all the other flavors going on, at least not overwhelmingly so, but it adds a nice thickness (meaning you don’t need to use any heavy dairy – this soup is completely vegan, I used the pumpkin plus some light coconut milk to add richness).
Favorite Fall Spiced Tomato-Pumpkin Soup
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 28oz can organic crushed tomatoes
10 small carrots, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling, yo)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup lite coconut milk
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tbsp powdered ginger
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp cayenne powder
2 tsp turmeric powder
sea salt & fresh cracked black pepper to taste – I used a few pinches of himalayan sea salt and lots of black pepper!
Heat a big soup pot over medium and add the coconut oil. Once that melts, throw in the onions and garlic and let cook until somewhat translucent, about 5 minutes. (Make sure the garlic doesn’t burn!) After that, turn up the stove to medium high and add the canned tomatoes, pumpkin puree, and vegetable broth and let everything cook down together for about 15 minutes.
Once the carrots are super soft and everything has cooked down, take the soup off the heat and bust our your immersion blender. Blend everything together (it’s okay to leave some chunks!) and return to medium heat on the stovetop. The soup should look pretty thick – stir in the coconut milk and your spices, and if it’s still a bit thicker than you prefer, add some more vegetable broth. I ended up adding probably another 1/2 cup of broth to even out the texture. It was still slightly thick and chunky, but in a good soupy way, not in a “why are you feeding me this awkward vegetable puree?” way.
Taste your beautiful soup and add more seasonings as needed. Ladle into bowls and garnish with an additional drizzle of coconut milk on top. Serve hot! (And alongside a grilled cheese if you’re really feelin’ things.)
