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Roasted pumpkin x Smitten apple soup with caramelised maple pecan apple

You’ll spy Smitten apples adorning the shelves at the shops when the leaves start rustling in shades of rust, and when pumpkins are at their most ostentatious orange, too. Pumpkin soup is already quite sweet, so it’s the tang in this apple that elevates it, boosted with body from carrots and sweet potato. The caramelised apple & pecan topping is optional, but excellent – and you can always save any excess for topping tomorrow’s apple pancakes.
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Ingredients 

  • 1 large onion peeled and quartered
  • 6 cloves garlic peeled
  • 1 kg pumpkin peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
  • 2 large carrots peeled and cut into chunks
  • 1 medium sweet potato peeled and cut into chunks
  • 2 Smitten apples peeled, cored, and sliced roughly
  • ¼ cup olive oil plus extra for drizzling
  • 1 litre vegetable stock

Caramelised pecans & apples

  • 50 g butter
  • Pinch of salt flakes
  • ¼ cup chopped pecans
  • 1 Smitten apple peeled, cored and cut to a 1cm dice
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ½ cup yoghurt
  • ¼ tsp fresh nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp chopped chives
  • Sourdough toast or crusty bread to serve

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 200℃ (180℃ fan)
  • In your biggest bowl, toss vegetables and apples together with a generous sprinkling or salt flakes, freshly cracked pepper and the ¼ cup of olive oil to coat. Transfer to a large roasting tin or baking tray and place into the oven to bake for 50 minutes until vegetables are soft and starting to caramelise.
  • Pour the stock into a large soup pot and bring to the boil. Add in the roasted veg, along with the schmutz in the bottom of the tray, then top up with water (preferably filtered) to just cover the vegetables. Bring back up to the boil, then drop the heat to simmer until the vegetables are super soft and starting to break down.
  • Make the caramelised apple by adding the butter, salt, pecans and diced apple to a frypan, tossing occasionally and cooking until the apple in soft and starting to caramelise. Pour in the maple and bring to the boil, then keep warm until ready to serve.
  • Remove the soup from heat and use a stick blender to blitz until super smooth. If need be, pop back into the pot to reheat to desired temperature, and season to taste.
  • Serve the hot soup with toast and a dab of yoghurt, a spoonful of the caramelised maple pecan apples, a few scrapes of nutmeg, some chopped chives, a sprinkle of salt flakes and freshly cracked pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil to finish.