Pumpkin soup will taste more flavourful if you add 3 store cupboard must-haves

Pumpkins are part and parcel of Halloween, lighting up the spooky nights with terrifying and often comedic faces. Yet every year, I feel as though the vegetable - which is botanically a fruit - goes to waste.

Year after year I see pumpkins get gutted, dolled up and then thrown away within a week. This year I've found the perfect recipe to put your pumpkin to good use, and help create the ultimate winter warmer soup. However, this isn't just a plain old pumpkin soup; this recipe uses a blend of spices to help create a rich, nutty, ever-so slightly spicy and sweet soup that will keep you going through the dark days of autumn.

So my pumpkin doesn't go to waste, the food experts at Good Food shared a recipe in its October magazine for a Curried Pumpkin Soup. Now, your pumpkin doesn't need a sad, sorry end to its life in the bin.

I love a recipe that can be thrown together in one pot, it makes for easy cooking and minimal mess. I whack everything in a pot and let my hob do all the heavy lifting.

The key is three spices and seeds to create a delectable blend reminiscent of your Friday night curry. The spices you need are turmeric, curry powder, and cumin seeds. Very much staying on the orange trend.

These are paired with some much-need onion, garlic and ginger, the holy trinity of any good curry-adjacent dish. The real elbow grease comes from prepping the pumpkin, as it needs to be peeled and chopped.

Sometimes it can be difficult to peel through the skin of a pumpkin, so if you're finding it tricky, you can attempt to cut it off with a knife. Just watch out for your fingers.

By adding the spices in after the onions are soft and golden, it helps to amplify the flavour throughout the base of the soup. The smell just personifies cold, winter nights wrapped up in a blanket.

Allow the soup to bubble away on the hob, but don't be put off by the pumpkin chunks floating in an off-coloured bath. Honestly, the results are worth it.

The addition of double cream not only helps illuminate the colour of the soup, but adds a richness and creaminess we know associated with winter recipes. If you're worried that your soup looks a little thin, you can leave it to stew for a little while.

The first wave of heat hits your throat from the temperature, but with every mouthful the spices tingling the back of your throat and grow with each bite - or sip. There's also a tang from the Greek yoghurt, which may not be to everyone's taste.

Yes, it's clearly pumpkin, but there's a little je ne sais quoi about it. The spices make the pumpkin sing (preferably Thriller).

It's warm, it's hearty, it's everything you want in a soup this winter. It's honestly one of the best ways to use up my leftover pumpkin.

Honestly, you'll never need to throw your pumpkins in the rubbish again. So when it comes to cleaning up your Jack O Lantern, think about turning it into a soup.

Curried Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

• Two tbsp neutral-tasting oil
• 30g unsalted butter
• One onion, finely chopped
• Two garlic cloves, crushed
• One thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
• Two tbsp medium curry powder
• One tsp ground turmeric
• One kg pumpkin or squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 5cm chunks
• Two tbsp tomato puree
• 1.1 litres vegetable stock
• 80ml double cream

To serve

• 60g unsalted butter
• Two tsp cumin seed
• Small handful of coriander, finely chopped, or leaves picked
• Greek-style yoghurt, to serve

Method

Heat the oil and butter in a large, heavy-based pan over low-medium heat and fry the onion with a pinch of salt for eight to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Add the garlic and ginger, and cook for two minutes.

Stir in the curry powder and turmeric, and cook for a further minute. Tip in the pumpkin, tomato puree and stock, stir then bring to a simmer.

Cover and cook over a medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pumpkin is easily pierced using the tip of a cutlery knife.

Remove from the heat and blitz the soup using a hand blender until smooth, then stir through the cream and season with salt.

For the topping, melt the butter in a pan over a low heat and fry the cumin seeds for two minutes until fragrant. Season with salt.

Ladle the soup into bowls, then drizzle over the cumin butter and top with the coriander and yoghurt.

Once cool, the soup will keep for up to three months.