Nikki’s Roast Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Ginger Caramel Soup!

So i’m not the greatest cook in the world, some of my attempts have been disastrous to say the least! However I was playing around in the kitchen one day and just happened to make the YUMMIEST Roast Pumpkin & Sweet Potato soup – it is the easiest recipe, and even experimenting with the different quantities you can’t get it wrong!! I made a batch for dinner last night and my very picky two year old twins said YUM with every spoonful and then licked their bowls clean…so here it is, i’ll share this completely made up in my head recipe that I now keep coming back to every winter!!

Nikki’s Roast Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Ginger Caramel Soup.

What you will need for a batch that will serve 4-6 generous portions.

Half a large jap or kent pumpkin
One large sweet potato
One knob of fresh ginger (about 6cm long)
Olive Oil (around 1/2 cup)
1/2 to 1 cup of Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons Vegeta gourmet stock powder
1-2 cups of boiling water (can substitute for 1-2 cups of Campbells Vegetable Real Stock instead of Vegeta)
A Blender (I used my KitchenAid) or a hand stick blender will do the trick as well!

How to make it.

Preheat your oven on 220 degrees.

Cut up your pumpkin and sweet potato (seeds and skins removed) into medium sized chunks and pop into 2 roasting pans and toss with a few splashes of olive oil to coat. Peel the skin off your ginger and slice into pieces around 3mm thick. Sprinkle the ginger pieces into the roasting pans with your pumpkin and sweet potato. Okay now for the extra yummy part, sprinkle your brown sugar across your prepared vegetables in the roasting pans, i’ll leave the quantity up to you, but the more you sprinkle on top the more sweeter and caramalized your soup will taste. Pop your roasting pans into the oven and cook for around 30 – 45 minutes, you’ll have to keep checking until your veggies are cooked through nice and soft.

Once all your vegetables are roasted and caramelised (smells delish already!!), take them out of your oven and sit aside.

Now to blitz your soup! Next you will need 1 cup of boiling water and add/dissolve 1 tablespoon of vegeta gourmet stock powder, (use 2 cups boiling water and add/dissolve 2 tablespoons of vegeta if you would like a runnier consistency) or alternatively use 1-2 cups of ready made Campbells Vegetable Real Stock.

At this point you may want to pick out some of the roast ginger pieces before you blitz – I usually leave it all in, but some kids will find the ginger flavour too strong.

Pop all of your caramalized roast pumkin, sweet potato and ginger into your blender (my KitchenAid blitzed the lot in one go, but if you have a smaller blender you might need to do this in two batches). Start to blitzing your vegetables and slowly add in the prepared stock. Just add more or less stock to achieve the consistency you would like. I personally love it super thick and creamy!

Serve with some cream, parsley and chrispy wholemeal bread – get ready to lick the bowl clean!! This soup is perfect for a cold winter night (and leftovers for lunch the next day), and all the ginger is great if you have a cold!