A winter fighting spiced soup bowl

Spiced pumpkin soup with brown rice, blackbeans and lime whipped feta

I am not built for cold weather. To me, chill is a fun killer. I know there is skiing, and ice skating and pretty white landscapes and amazing coats and boots but this all glosses over that very banal fact that being cold completely sucks. The only redeeming feature, other than the aforementioned, means long slow cooking in the kitchen, the kind that has wafting amazing roasting type smells escaping through your windows and floorboards. And bowls of deliciousness like this spiced number that is part soup, part hearty soul fortifying meal. Basically as many comfort foods you can find to fit in one bowl with a touch of flu warding garlic and spice.

Ingredients

1/2 Jap pumpkin, thickly sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 red onions, peeled, roughly chopped

2 sprigs marjoram

1 tsp coriander seeds, ground

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp ground turmeric

2 tbsp freshly grated ginger

1 cup coconut milk

100g adobo sauce

4 cups chicken stock

juice and zest of 2 limes

sea salt and pepper to taste

1 cup tinned black beans, rinsed

2 cups cooked brown basmati rice

Lime whipped feta

Juice and zest of 1 lime

1 tbsp yoghurt

160g fetta

Micro coriander leaves, lime wedges and black sea salt flakes to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Toss the pumpkin slices, garlic and chopped onion with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a large baking tray and roast until lightly caramelized and tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before adding to a blender with the herbs and spices. Turn out into a saucepan and add the coconut milk and adobo sauce. Add the chicken stock gradually until your desired soup consistency is achieved. Simmer for 20 minutes to allow the flavours to develop, adding more chicken stock as it thickens. Season.

For the whipped feta, blend ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Set aside until ready to serve.

Scoop a 1/2 cup of brown rice into each bowl. Pour soup over the rice, then top with blackbeans, lime whipped feta, and fresh coriander.