In the past month, there’s been a distinct change in season; evenings are darker, the temperature has dropped by about 10 degrees, and I’ve gone from wearing sandals and skirts to covering up with a coat, gloves and scarf. I’m only one pair of wellies and a thermal vest away from my full-on winter gear.

Still, Autumn is a great time of year, when the temperatures aren’t arctic yet, and you can enjoy the beautiful colours of the trees before winter kills them off completely. And how can you make a chilly autumn evening even better? By making a nice bowl of hearty, warming pumpkin soup, that’s how!

This is one of my favourite recipes; it’s quick, easy, and extremely healthy- the perfect thing to warm you up on a cold evening. The pumpkin makes the soup velvety and thick, while the corn adds a bit of texture and gives it almost a creamy taste. Delicious. Even better, there is so much flavour from the vegetables that you don’t have to bother adding loads of herbs and spices, which makes the process ever simpler.

(Oh, and if you’re not a fan of pumpkin or find them hard to find, you can substitute them with butternut squash.)

Ingredients:

1 Pumpkin, around 1 kg

2 Large Onions

1 Tin of Sweetcorn (or fresh corn if you can get it)

2 Large Carrots

Chicken/ Beef Stock (around 800 ml depending on how thick you like your soup)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Olive Oil

Cream (optional)

Directions:

1) Chop up the onions into small chunks and saute in the olive oil until they’re soft and tender.

2)Chop up the pumpkin and carrots into chunks and put in a large saucepan. Add the corn and then the onions.

3) Pour in your stock until it is just covering the vegetables. (You can add more or less water depending on how thick you like your soup. I prefer to add less at       the start, and thin later if needed.

4)Bring the water to a boil, and then simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are very soft (the pumpkin should be almost mushy).

5) Blend everything. When the soup is ready, add salt and pepper to taste. If you would like to add cream, add some now and then re-heat the soup.

6) Enjoy!

And there you have it…a minimal effort recipe with maximum taste. Perfect.