Inspire Me with the Best Little Soup in the Universe

There's nothing better on a chilly day than a hot, spicy soup. Value for money and full of flavour, a hearty soup will feed all the hungry mouths at your table.
My soup is already simmering away on the stove as I write but be warned, when the hungry hoards come home and they smell the roasted garlic and rosemary, they won't give me a moments peace until they have a big bowl of steaming soup set in front of them. Slurping is mandatory!

SPICY ROAST PUMPKIN SOUP

First... Cut up about 1kg of your favourite kind of pumpkin. Remove seeds and skin or peel skin off when cooked... easy. Throw into a large oven dish with 3-4 unpeeled cloves of garlic, two carrots peeled and cut into 2cm slices, 2tsp olive oil to coat and 2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary. Oven set to 180 degrees Celcius. Bake about 1hour.


Second... When all vegetables are soft, remove from oven (turn it off) and place into a large saucepan. Peel off pumpkin skins and squeeze out soft garlic and discard papery outer. Discard rosemary. Cover with water or 1/2 liquid chicken or vegetable stock and 1/2 water or use water and add 2tsp powered chicken stock. Bring to boil. (Only just cover pumpkin or you'll get a watery soup.)


Third... Add 1/2 tsp of turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and a pinch of white pepper (Tip: if your children aren't used to these flavours, use less because more can be added later but impossible to take out!) When boiled, remove from heat and carefully blend using a stick blender or ladle into a food processor to blend until smooth. Spoon into bowls, add a swirl of natural yoghurt or low fat Greek yoghurt and serve with favourite bread or toast such as Turkish or quesadillas (see recipe below). Enjoy. Even better the next day as flavours develop.

QUICK & EASY QUESADILLAS

These are so easy.

First... place a flour tortilla into a frypan.

Second... place baby spinach leaves over surface of tortilla and sprinkle grated cheese on top.

Third... Take another tortilla and place on top and press down a little. I don't use oil in the pan, you really don't need it. When outside is browned and cheese melted, transfer onto cutting board and cut into quarters. That's it!!

Get the children involved by allowing them to choose their ingredients. Try BBQ chicken, creamed corn and cheese, guacamole and salsa or really any combination you can think of. If it can go into a toasted sandwich, it'll work. Perfect for in front of the TV or after school. Try making a breakfast one with bacon, egg, cheese and baby spinach or roll up into a wrap and toast in sandwich toaster. Bon appetit!