Pumpkin & Red Lentil Soup with Dukkah

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 2 onions, peeled, halved & thinly sliced
• 3 cm piece ginger, grated
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• ½ tsp cinnamon powder
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 cup split red lentils
• 800g jap pumpkin, peeled, seeded & chopped in 2 cm² pieces
• 1.25 L vegetable stock or water
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 4 Tbsp thick natural yoghurt (omit for dairy free)
• 2 Tbsp snipped chives
• for the dukkah (alternatively, use a good quality store bought dukkah)
• 35 g toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 Tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 Tbsp unhulled sesame seeds
• ¼ tsp nigella seeds
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• pinch or two sweet paprika

Method

1. Heat a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the coconut oil and the onions and sauté, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until they’re soft and browned. Add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, for about a minute before stirring in the spices. Add the lentils, pumpkin and stock or water then cover, bring to the boil and adjust heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for 25 minutes, or until the pumpkin and lentils are collapsed.
2. Combine the soup with the sea salt in a food processor. Blend on a medium-high speed for about a minute, until completely smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning then return the soup to the saucepan and keep warm.
3. For the duskkah, heat a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the seeds and cook, stirring constantly, for between 1 and 2 minutes: the sesame should smell toasty when it’s done but beware of taking the mix too far as the seeds will burn easily. Cool then combine with hazelnuts in a mortar and pestle and grind to make a rough powder. Transfer to a small jar, add salt and paprika and shake to combine- you’ll have more than you need for this recipe so save the extra dukkah to sprinkle on salads, scrambled eggs and grilled meats and whatever else your taste buds desire!
4. To serve, divide the soup between 4 warm bowls. Divide the yoghurt between the bowls, sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon of dukkah and garnish with the chives.