Roasted Pumpkin, Tomato, and Bell Pepper Soup with Cheese Bread

Ingredients

Makes 7–8 pieces

• 1 small Hokkaido squash or butternut squash, approximately 700–900 g
• 4 large ripe tomatoes or 250–300 g cherry tomatoes
• 1 red pepper
• 1–3 cloves of garlic, to taste
• handful of fresh basil
• 500 ml vegetable broth
• about 100 ml of cream, either regular or plant-based
• 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• chili to taste
• water, as needed to achieve the desired consistency

For serving

• toasted sourdough bread
• cheese to taste
• roasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds
• fresh sprouts
• basil
• a drop of olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. You don’t need to peel the Hokkaido squash; just wash it thoroughly and remove the seeds. Peel the butternut squash. Cut the flesh into pieces of roughly equal size.
2. Remove the seeds from the bell pepper and cut it into small pieces. Cut the large tomatoes into quarters; you can leave the cherry tomatoes whole or cut them in half.
3. Spread the vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle them with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and add a little chili.
4. Bake for about 35 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and begin to brown around the edges.
5. Transfer the roasted vegetables to a pot. Add the vegetable broth, basil, and garlic to taste.
6. Start with one clove, and if needed, add another after blending.
7. Blend everything until smooth. Pour in the cream and heat the soup briefly. Depending on the desired consistency, you can thin it with a little water or more broth.
8. Finally, taste the soup and season with salt, pepper, chili, or a few drops of lemon juice as needed. Serve with toasted sourdough bread topped with cheese, seeds, sprouts, and fresh basil.

How to Use Garlic

If you like a stronger flavor, you can add a small raw clove of garlic to the blended soup. Add it gradually, because its flavor will be more intense than that of roasted garlic.

For a milder version, place the whole, unpeeled garlic cloves on a baking sheet with the vegetables. After baking, squeeze them out of their skins and blend them together with the other ingredients.

How to Make Pasta Sauce Using the Same Base

Before adding the broth to the roasted vegetables, set aside about one-third of the vegetables. This amount is enough for about two servings of sauce, and you can use the rest to make 2–3 servings of soup.

For two servings, you'll need

• about one-third of the roasted vegetables
• 160–180 g of pasta
• 50–100 ml of cream
• 100–150 ml of pasta cooking water
• handful of fresh basil
• salt, pepper, and chili
• Parmesan, feta, or nutritional yeast, to taste

Method

1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions, and before draining it, reserve about a cup of the cooking water.
2. Blend the roasted vegetables with the basil, cream, and a little water from the pasta. The sauce should be thicker than soup.
3. Pour the sauce into a large skillet and add the cooked pasta. Stir, and gradually add more pasta water as needed until the sauce is nice and creamy.
4. Season with salt, pepper, and chili. Serve with fresh basil, cheese, toasted seeds, or a drizzle of olive oil.

If you want to make just enough sauce for four people, use the entire baking sheet of roasted vegetables and about 320–350 g of pasta, and omit the broth.