Pumpkin and lentil soup with apple and gremolata
Autumn is soup season. But why limit yourself to just one flavor when you can have several? That's exactly what we thought for this quintessential autumn dish, so we simply combined pumpkin and lentils into this creamy soup.
- For the soup:
- 1 large onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 thumb-width piece of ginger
- approx. 1 kg Hokkaido pumpkin (without seeds)
- 200 g potatoes (preferably floury)
- 1.5 apples
- 150g yellow lentils
- 100 g vegan white wine (or 70 g white wine vinegar)
- 1 liter of vegetable broth
- Olive oil for frying
- Salt
- Pfeffer
- For the herb gremolata:
- 30 g parsley
- 30 g pumpkin seeds
- 1 clove of garlic
- 0.5 apple
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon
- Salt
- Peel and finely chop the onion, garlic, and ginger. Wash, deseed, and roughly chop the pumpkin. Peel and dice the potatoes. Core and roughly chop the apples. Wash the lentils.
- Heat olive oil in a large pot. Sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger until translucent. Add the pumpkin, potatoes, apples, and lentils and cook briefly. Deglaze with vegan white wine.
- Pour vegetable broth over everything, bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat for 20-25 minutes until everything is cooked through.
- Meanwhile, for the herb gremolata, finely chop the parsley and coarsely chop the pumpkin seeds. Finely grate the garlic and dice the apple. Combine the parsley, pumpkin seeds, garlic, apple, chili flakes, olive oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice to taste in a small bowl and season with salt.
- Purée the soup finely with an immersion blender and season with salt and pepper. Thin with a little water if necessary.
- Arrange the soup in bowls and top with the herb gremolata.
The peel can stay on.
There are many reasons why we love Hokkaido pumpkin, but one of them is: it doesn't need to be peeled. You can simply scoop out the seeds and pulp, cut it into large chunks, and you're good to go! By the way, we're not peeling the apple either. The soup will be pureed anyway, so we save ourselves time and waste.
What other herbs go well in gremolata?
Gremolata is a typical Italian seasoning blend, consisting mainly of finely chopped herbs, and it enhances almost any dish. It's typically made with parsley, which is also our first choice because it's wonderfully fresh and retains its crispness. However, if you like, you can also add coriander or mint. Both bring their own unique flavor.
Does the apple make the soup taste sweet?
The pumpkin and apple give the soup a slightly sweet taste. This is perfectly balanced by the white wine (or vinegar) and the tangy gremolata. If you absolutely can't stand apple, simply leave it out.
Will other lentils also work in the soup?
If you don't have yellow lentils on hand, you can also use red ones. They become just as soft and taste similar. We haven't tried green or brown lentils yet, but they would likely change the flavor significantly.
Want more autumnal vegan stews?
If you like this soup, you might also enjoy our vegan lentil stew with sausages, kale stew with seitan and white beans, or autumn stew!
