Hello and Welcome to FJG Pumpkin Week (#FJGPumpkinWeek).
In the run up to Halloween this week we will be posting a recipe a day to give pumpkins of another chance in life. Instead of decaying outside your front door, we want to help you ‘up cycle’ and turn it into something delicious and nutritious (well, nutritious is an ambiguous term!). Throughout the week if you have any recommendations or recipes of your own we would love hear. Find us on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin or email us at [email protected];
The FJG Foundation is our charity raising monies for small youth and children’s organisations within the local community. It was established in 2012, and has a cookbook available for sale which is full of homemade recipes inspired, created and photographed by the staff. All proceeds of the book go to FJG Foundation and they make a fantastic present/Christmas stocking filler for only £5 or indeed a donation. Please email Penny Hepburn at [email protected] to get your book today.
Day one – Classic Pumpkin soup with a hint of spice, The FJG Winter Warmer
The first recipe which will spring to everyone’s mind when they think pumpkin is soup – And quite rightly so, the old classic is surprisingly flavoursome and a soup will leave you feeling refreshed. As well as being one of the very low calorie vegetables, pumpkins are also very high in anti-oxidants. However, being slightly obsessed with spicy foods we have thrown in a little kick, alongside a helping of lentils which provide a healthy injection of protein.
Ingredients
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped,
1-2 tsp chilli powder
The flesh of one large pumpkin (approx. 800g), plus seeds
100g of red split lentils
½ small pack thyme, leave picked and extra to serve
Vegetable stock (roughly 1L)
75g crème fraiche
Method
1 – In a pan, get your onions sweating for a couple of minutes and add the pumpkin flesh and gently cook for a further couple of minutes. Then stir in the garlic, chilli powder (how much do you dare?), lentils and thyme. Once this is all in, drown it in the stock, season and allow to bubble away for roughly 20-25 minutes until the pumpkin is soft.
2 – Whilst your soup is simmering, wash your pumpkin seeds and heat them in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. Keep an eye on them and give them a stir frequently, covering them in between as they will begin to jump about in the pan. Once they begin to look roasted, sprinkle with a bit of seasoning and then leave them to one side.
3 –When your pumpkin is soft, remove from the heat and blitz with a hand blender, check the seasoning. Stir in some crème fraiche and serve with an extra dollop on top. Sprinkle with the toasted seeds and voila, there you have it a FJG Winter Warmer.