You guys loved my roasted butternut soup recipe so now that soup season is upon us, here’s my updated version – pumpkin & miso soup. For those that are not familiar with miso – it’s Japanese paste made out of fermented soybeans, commonly used in Japanese cuisine. Now I know fermented soybeans doesn’t sound too appetising but trust me, it’s savoury, nutty and has tonnes of umami goodness. It will sure take your soup to a whole nother level.

There are 3 main components to this dish: The pumpking, miso & the bread

1. The pumpkin: there are a number of different variety, you can use whatever you have on hand. I used butternut but your conventional pumpkin or honeynut variety will work just as well. Roasting it with aromatics makes it sweeter and more flavourful.
2. Miso: it’s funky but trust me – it’s delicious. It won’t be an overwhelming flavour and you won’t taste it much but it will add depth and dimension to your soup. You can find it in most supermarkets these days, if not – go to your local Asian grocery store.
3. Bread: I used cibatta, cut into thick slices and toasted into butter until golden brown. Sourdough will also be great with this.

Ingredients

1 medium-large butternut pumpkin (or any other variety of similar size)
1 onion, chopped into big chunks
1 garlic bulb, top chopped off
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig thyme
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp miso
2 cups of veggie stock + 2 cups of water
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
Bread, cut into thick slices

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
2. Peel your butternut pumpkin (or pumpkin variety of your choice) and chopped into equal-sized chunks.
3. In a baking tray, add the pumpkin chunks, onion, garlic, thyme and rosemary. Drizzle generously with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Bake for 1 hour or until the veggies are soft and slightly browned.
4. In a pot, melt the butter and add in the miso. Break up the miso in the butter and toast for ~1-2 mins or until it’s fragrant. Add in the roasted veggies, stock and water. Mix well to dissolve the miso.
5. Transfer the soup into a blender, or you can also use a stick blender like me, and blend until the soup is nice and smooth. Optional but you can add in 1/2 cup of heavy cream, mix well. Here you can adjust the consistency of your soup by adding more water if desired and season to taste.
6. Toast some bread into butter. Garnish soup with a drizzle of heavy cream, olive oil and a dash of parsley. Serve warm with bread.