A visit to the wonderful Orange Grove Markets in Lilyfield this morning and the tempting produce available made me want to make soup. I was quite taken with the wild garlic featured on one particular stall, so I created a soup in which it could feature.
Pumpkin and leek go well together, and the garlic gave the soup a mild yet slightly pungent flavour. A definite improvement on traditional garlic or onion!
This soup allows you to be flexible with quantities – be creative!
Ingredients
1 tbl extra virgin olive oil
A knob of butter
2 heads of wild garlic
1 large leek
Generous grind of rock salt or to taste
1/4 medium-sized pumpkin
500 mls chicken stock
Black pepper
Sour cream and thyme leaves, to serve
Method
Heat oil and butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Fry roughly chopped wild garlic and the leek with the salt. Cook for a couple of minutes until the garlic and the leek begin to soften.
Add the pumpkin chopped in large chunks to the saucepan. Pour in the chicken stock, and season with black pepper. Increase the heat and bring to the boil. Turn heat back to medium, cover with a lid and cook until vegetables are tender, about 20 – 30 minutes.
Remove from heat, leave to cool for about 10 minutes, then blend with stick blender in the saucepan until the desired consistency. I usually like my soup a little chunky, but on this occasion I opted for a smoother consistency.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and fresh thyme leaves.
The Quirk and the Cool 