The seasons are changing and there’s just a hint of a chill in the air. Soup weather…

In my parents’ house, Sunday nights in winter meant soup and crusty bread, and it’s still something that I crave in the cooler months.

This soup uses the delicious, but hard to cut, Queensland blue pumpkin. If you can’t get that variety, then Jap or butternut also work well. While you can make this by simmering the pumpkin and potato chunks in the stock to cook them, I prefer to roast them first to bring out the sweetness.

Ingredients

1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2–3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
750 g pumpkin, cut into chunks
250g potato, cut into chunks
1.25 L (5 cups) chicken stock
250 ml (1 cup) cream

Method

Roast the chunks of pumpkin and potato until slightly softened (approximately 40 minutes in a moderate oven).

Gently sauté the onion and garlic in the oil and butter until soft and transparent, but do not allow to colour. Add the pumpkin and potato and stir to coat the outsides.

Add stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced and the vegetables are really soft.

Using a stick blender or food processor, blend the vegetables and cooking liquid until completely smooth. Add the cream, mix through and heat gently until heated through.

Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with lightly toasted crusty bread.

This also freezes well and it was only last weekend that I made a big batch and froze it in individual portions. Now we can have soup whenever we feel like it.

I’ve come up with a recipe that satisfies both our food needs. Like all good lasagne, it takes a bit of time and effort to make but you end up with ample delicious leftovers.

First, make the tomato sauce:

1 tbs olive oil
2 x 400g canned tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbs rosemary, chopped
¼ cup basil, chopped
1 tbs oregano, chopped
1 bay leaf
Splash of red wine

Fry the garlic in oil until transparent. Deglaze the pan with red wine. Add the other ingredients and simmer gently for 45 minutes to thicken.

While that’s simmering away, start preparing the filling for the layers.

200g pumpkin
½ sweet potato
1 eggplant
2 zucchinis
12 mushrooms, sliced
fresh spinach or silver beet, roughly chopped
250g ricotta
350g mozzarella, grated
50g parmesan, grated
Lasagne sheets

Cut the pumpkin and sweet potato into 5mm slices and parboil. Set aside.

Slice the zucchinis and eggplant lengthways and grill for five minutes on each side. Set aside.

When the tomato sauce is ready, take off the heat, remove the bay leaf and set aside.

In a large ovenproof dish, cover the bottom with layer of tomato sauce and place lasagne sheets on top, covering it to the edges. Cover with a layer of eggplant, then mushrooms, then spinach. Dollop some of the ricotta around and sprinkle with some of the mozzarella.

Place another layer of lasagne sheets in the dish and cover with tomato sauce. Cover with a mixture of pumpkin and sweet potato, then add a layer of zucchini. Dollop with some more of the ricotta around and sprinkle with some more of the mozzarella.

Place another layer of lasagne sheets and cover with tomato sauce and another layer of mushrooms. Dollop the remaining ricotta and sprinkle with a thick layer of mozzarella and the parmesan cheese.

Bake at 140­­-160°C for an hour until cheese is golden with crunchy bits on top.