Try our Spooky Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Try Our Spooky Pumpkin Soup Recipe

www.privatepersonalchefs.co.uk

Halloween parties offer a great opportunity to have some fun in the kitchen. From making creepy cupcakes and scary cookies to a spooky soup, the possibilities are endless...

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions finely chopped
• 1kg pumpkins or squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped into chunks
• 700ml vegetable stock or chicken stock
• 142ml tub of double cream
• Sour cream thinned with a little milk for the design

Method

• Heat half the olive oil in a large saucepan, then gently cook the onions for 5 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the pumpkin or squash to the pan, then carry on cooking for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until it starts to soften and turn golden.
  
  
• Next...Pour the stock into the pan, then season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes until the squash is very soft. Pour the cream into the pan, bring back to the boil, then purée with a hand blender. For an extra-velvety consistency you can push the soup through a fine sieve into another pan.
  
  
• Finish with a Halloween Design, your soup is cooked and in a bowl. It's smooth and beautiful. Use thinned sour cream with a little milk inside and make a spiral design, take a little skewer and with the tip pull it through. There's your spider web soup. Enjoy!

BUY BRITISH

WHY IT IS BEST TO BUY BRITISH

http://www.galorpersonalhouseholdservices.co.uk/ 

• British meat is produced to some of the highest welfare standards in the world: no growth-promoting hormones are allowed and any antibiotics are administered only under veterinary direction.  

• Britain's pig farmers operate by UK law to standards of welfare that are higher than those of nearly every other EU member state; so think twice before buying that packet of pork, baconor ham with the words ‘product of the EU’.  There is a 70% chance that it comes from a farming system that would be illegal in Britain.  

• Britain's beef and sheep industries are the envy of the world; breeding livestock and genetics from our native breeds are much sought after by farmers in other countries.  Protect our great native livestock industry by buying the real thing, not an imported substitute.  

• Britain's cattle passport system means that each animal can be uniquely traced to its dam and place of birth.  

• Chicken carrying the British Red Tractor logo has been produced to a high set of standards covering every stage of the food chain from rearing to processing and can be traced back to the farm it came from. 

• British chicken is the safest chicken meat in Europe: 2% of British chickens have salmonella whereas 30% of European chickens have the disease. 

• Eating British fruits and vegetables in season is good for you.  Foods in season contain the nutrients, minerals and trace elements that our bodies need at particular times of the year.  

• British food travels less far from farm to shop so regardless of how carbon footprints are calculated it self-evidently has a lower carbon footprint.  

• Choosing British means supporting British farmers whose work helps to keep the British countryside the way we want it to look: no sheep or cows - no countryside!