Pumpkin Soup and Pumpkin Chicken Tagine

Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Leek and Coconut Milk Soup

Serves: 8

   1 tablespoon vegetable oil         

1 onion, finely chopped

1 leek, chopped

450g peeled and diced pumpkin ( I have used quarter of my medium size pumpkin)  

2 medium sweet potatoes  peeled and cubed

1L vegetable stock

 1 carrot peeled and cubed            

300ml light coconut milk (optional)

Bay leaf, fresh or dried thyme

Salt and Pepper to season

Method

Prep:20min  ›  Cook:25min  ›  Ready in:45min 

1. Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and leek, and cook for a few minutes, until soft. Stir in the pumpkin, sweet potato, vegetable stock and herbs. Bring to the boil, then cover and reduce heat to low.
2. Simmer for about 15/20 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Blend vegetables  using a hand held blender. Stir in the coconut milk, season with salt and pepper, and cook for another 5 min.
3. Serve with sprinkled chopped parsley. 

Pumpkin and Chicken Tagine

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 35 minutes Total Time: 50 minutes Servings: 6

 

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound skinless and boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon garlic, grated
• 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 4 cups  pumpkin, cut into 1 inch cubes

•  6-7 dried apricots diced
• 1 pinch saffron threads, crushed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt (optional)
• 1/4 cup pomegranate (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan  over medium-high heat, add the chicken and cook until lightly browned on all sides before setting aside.
2. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and cayenne pepper and sauté until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the stock, chicken, pumpkin, saffron threads,apricots salt and pepper, bring to a boil, and transfer everything to the tagine. Cook in preheated oven (200C) for about 30min. If you don't have the Tagine, continue cooking in a large saucepan.
5. Serve over cous cous or rice or quinoa, etc. topped with the pomegranate seeds and yogurt.

Option: Use skin on and bone in chicken thighs, legs or drumstick instead of the skinless and boneless chicken breasts or thighs. Sear the skins in the pan until browned and then increase the cook time to 30 minutes.
Option: Replace the chicken with 1 can of chickpeas for vegetarian version.
Option: Replace the pumpkin with another sweet winter squash like a butternut squash etc.