Dahl and pumpkin soup with spicy onions - Nigel Slater

bright and colourful Dahl and pumpkin soup. With rescued pumpkin.

January. ‘T is the season to make a good pot of soup, to enjoy warming vegetable packed lunches all week. Inspired by Nigel Slaters statement: “Learning to eat with the ebb and flow of the seasons is the single thing that has made my eating more enjoyable,”, I made his dal and pumpkin soup from The Kitchen diaries. You can find the original recipe here. It is easy and lovely. However, I do believe the pumpkin deserves a better treatment. Nigel instruct a full boil in water and then drain.

I am obsessed to never ever lose the flavour of anything you made. So I prepared the pumpkins a l’etuvee. A technique @Chef Briffard at Le Cordon Bleu loves, because it really intensifies colour and flavour of humble vegs.

You put the pumpkin cubes (05x0,5 cm) - it also works with small pieces of carrot, beetroot, leeks, turnip, parsnip, etc- in a pan. The pan-size should be in such a way that the vegetables (all cut the same size to create a consistent bite) sit snuggly and cover the full bottom, in one single layer. Add two table spoon water, a knob of butter or veg oil and a pinch of salt. Create a ‘lid’ by cutting a circle that fits the pan from baking paper. We call this a cartouche. Put the pan on a simmer, leave the cartouche on for around 5 minutes. When the vegetables are getting close to the right consistency -use a toothpick to check- you push up the heat to high. You want the water to evaporate and the butter or oil to caramelise the veg. Be aware, pumpkins go from snappy to soft consistency really quick, so you want to be concentrated.

Taste them, these pumpkin cubes treated with so much love should not be blended, but be the hero of the dish. So don’t listen to Nigel, don’t put them in the blender with the Dahl. Add them to the soup after the blending. It will look pretty and add a splash of colour, flavour and texture. Happy lunching!