Soup and cake for cold days

Hello from Rydal! After a few days at home, I’m back in the kitchen, cooking again this week for the art classes my mother, artist Annie Herron teaches here every May and October. And because I’m feeling a bit sooky about leaving my little (and big!) people again, thought I’d post a recipe for two of their favourite things – soup and cake.

Apple and pumpkin soup is Alice and Tom’s current favourite, and actually, mine too. The apple lifts and brightens the flavour and the creamy pumpkin is like throwing a little blankie over your knees – comforting but not cloying.

I’ve been collecting recipes and photos from my time here in Rydal and will post the lot in one hit next week but for now, lets eat soup and cake. Have a great week! Sophiex

Apple and Pumpkin Soup

If you make one soup this Autumn….this should definitely be it. Easy, cheap and delicious it’s one of the best things I’ve had in ages – and everyone at the art classes loved it for lunch too! You can swap the apple with pear if you like or throw in a mixture of whatever is in the fruit bowl.

4 cups butternut pumpkin, peeled, de-seeded and roughly chopped
4 tart cooking apples, quartered and cored
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 leek, roughly chopped
1 handful sage leaves
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
40g butter
Natural ‘Greek’ style yogurt, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Combine the pumpkin, apples, garlic, leek, sage, olive oil and seasoning in a large baking tray and toss to combine. Place in the oven and roast for about 45 minutes or until the pumpkin is cooked through and just beginning to caramelise.

Blitz, in batches with a little of the stock and butter until you have a big saucepan full of golden, delicious soup. Serve with a spoonful of yogurt if you like (we do) and a plate of warm, golden ciabatta bread.