Pumpkin velouté

The inhabitants of the Discipline Scenario eat strictly according to seasonal cycles and flavour their food with (home) dried and smoked herbs and spices. Pumpkin is for many of us a symbol of autumn: warm, smooth and sweet, like the early evenings at home in front of the fire (or even better, immersed in the heat produced by some form of renewable energy), listening to the rain and wind ranging outside while we're comfortably protected by our well-insulated windows. Even if the colour of pumpkin suggests warmth, according to the tradition of Ayurveda pumpkin is considered a cooling food. We therefore added some spicy smoked paprika powder to increase the soup's heating capacity.

Ingredients

  • 1 medium-sized pumpkin or butternut squash
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 bunch of fresh thyme
  • 1 vegetable stock cube
  • 1 tsp mild smoked paprika powder
  • 1/2 tsp spicy smoked paprika powder
  • 2 tsp sweet paprika powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • sour cream to taste
  • a few drops of cold-pressed, fruity extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

Cut the pumpkin and sweet potato into small cubes. Crush garlic and fry it on low heat in coconut oil until it becomes soft and translucent. Add the paprika powder and oregano and stir until it becomes an unguent paste. Add pumpkin and potato and stir to coat them with the oily spice mixture. Boil water and add to cover the vegetables. Add stock (cube), 1/2 of the thyme, salt and pepper. Cook until the pumpkin and sweet potato soften. Let cool to lukewarm and blend to a smooth velouté. Reserve in the fridge, if possible overnight. Warm before serving.

Serving

Serve in small cups with a dollop of sour cream, a dash of olive oil, a sprinkle of smoked paprika and a twig of thyme.

Sourcing

Pumpkin and sweet potato came from the Molenbeek market in Brussels, Belgium. Sweet paprika from the market in Pula, Croatia. Smoked paprika from the Mercado de La Boqueria in Barcelona, Spain. Oregano (majčina dušica) picked in Pula, Croatia. Thyme from Maja Kuzmanovic's balcony. Sour cream from Delhaize. Coconut oil from Natural Corner.

🍴

This recipe is part of 🍴Food Futures