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Ingredients
Creamy Pumpkin and Carrot Soup with Cilantro Pesto
- For the pesto
- 1 handful cilantro
- 1 Tbsp toasted Pine nuts
- 2 Tbsps Coconut milk
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp Lime juice
- salt
- Chili powder
- For the soup
- ½ tsp Cumin (ground)
- 1 pinch Ground cinnamon
- salt
- freshly ground peppers
- 800 milliliters Chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
- 2 sprigs Lemongrass
- 125 grams Crème fraiche
- 1 tsp freshly chopped parsley
- parsley (for garnish)
Peel and dice carrots, parsley root, onion, garlic and ginger. Cut pumpkin flesh into cubes. In a pot, sauté all prepared vegetables in oil until translucent. Stir in turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and season with salt and pepper. Add broth. Rinse lemongrass and halve lengthwise. Add lemongrass to pot and simmer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft, about 25 minutes.
For the pesto: Rinse cilantro leaves and shake dry. In a blender, puree cilantro, pine nuts, coconut milk, soy sauce and sesame oil. Season with lime juice, salt and chili powder.
Remove lemongrass from soup and puree until smooth. If desired, strain soup through a sieve. Continue cooking or add a little more broth until soup reaches the desired consistency. Stir in up to 1 tablespoon crème fraîche and season again to taste. Mix remaining crème fraîche with parsley. Serve soup garnished with pesto, parsley and crème fraîche mixture, and additional parsley leaves.