This roasted pumpkin, parmesan and sage soup is inspired by one of my favourite pasta dishes – butternut ravioli with burnt butter, crispy sage and a generous heap of grated parmesan. In fact, this ravioli happens to be one of my ultimate comfort food dinners. It’s quick and easy to make (I use Woolies fresh Butternut Pansotti) and the flavours are just magical – nutty burnt butter, mellow sage and tangy parmesan.
Inspired by these flavours, I set out to make a butternut soup that was a bit different to the traditional South African one we all know too well. I was set on roasting the butternut for extra flavour and pressure cooking it in the instant pot using parmesan rinds as a flavour bomb (I keep a ziplock full of parmesan rinds in the freezer for just an occasion like this).
You may be wondering why am I talking about butternut when this is a pumpkin soup? Well, it turns out when you send your husband to buy butternut from the grocery store, reading the label is over-rated. Hence I found myself staring down at 1 kg of pumpkin instead of butternut. In his defence, he did go to the shops for me (I find grocery shopping such a chore), and also in his favour, the pumpkin and sage combo ended up working beautifully. Argument averted.
Back to the parmesan rinds. This may sound strange, but using parmesan rinds in a broth is something I learnt from watching the great Massimo Botturo’s Masterclass. Believe me, after tasting the umami kick it gives a broth, your heart will break if a parmesan rind ends up in the bin. Hence my nifty ziplock bag of them in the freezer (some people may consider this a form of hoarding -cough, husband, cough- but I consider it genius).
It’s been just over a year since we purchased our first pressure cooker in the form of the Instant Pot Duo Crisp. And I must say, although I am generally an “appliance minimalist”, it has been a game-changer by providing a short-cut to flavour for so many dishes. In fact, I can honestly say that I don’t use it enough – with the Sauté function you can do an all-in-one-pot dinner, and if you want to make it in advance the “Keep Warm” function is a dream (granted that you aren’t hit with load shedding aka South Africa’s daily scheduled black-outs).
This recipe has very little hands on time making it a perfect and simple weeknight dinner. Add it to your winter soup repertoire and enjoy with a lovely slice of sourdough as a dipper, or even better grilled cheese sourdough.
(Instant Pot) Roasted Pumpkin, Parmesan and Sage Soup
Equipment
- Instant Pot (my model is the Duo Crisp)
Ingredients
- 1kg Pumpkin, peeled and diced (approx 4cm or 1 ½ inch chunks)
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 large bunch of sage, rinsed about 10g
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp dried origanum
- 5 cups stock, chicken or veg
- 1-2 parmesan rinds
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese freshly grated
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 tsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200℃ (400℉).
- Place the diced pumpkin in a baking dish or tray. Tuck two sprigs of sage underneath and add the garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 40-50 minutes until edges start to caramalise.
- With Instant Pot on Sauté mode, add butter. Melt and allow to brown lightly.
- Add diced onion and dried origanum and sauté until softened.
- Add roasted pumpkin, garlic cloves and sage leaves (omit stems).
- Add stock and parmesan rinds.
- Pressure cook on High for 20 minutes.
- Pan fry a small handful of picked sage leaves in a drizzle of oil until crispy. Remove and place on a kitchen towel until serving.
- Release pressure once done and use a slotted spoon to remove parmesan rinds.
- Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
- Add sour cream, reserving 2 tbsp for serving. Blend.
- Add grated parmesan and blend.
- Loosen the sour cream with 1-2 tsp of milk to drizzling consistency.
- Season to taste. Serve with a swirl of sour cream, crispy sage leaves and a sprinkle of parmesan.
