Well it was only a week ago I was talking about the beginning of spring and here it is cold again!  Time for soup!  We love soup for Meatless Monday or after Saturday morning sport.  However often a plain vegetable soup can be low in protein and leave you hungry later on.  My fave trick is to include a tin or two of rinsed and drained legumes to increase the protein in the meal - you can also check out my roast tomato and white bean soup.

Chickpeas are a terrific source of plant based protein and fibre and are high in manganese, copper and iron.  Pumpkin is one of the best known sources of beta-carotene which is a powerful anti-oxidant.  Adding pear brings a beautiful sweetness to this dish.  It's very simple to put together with the oven doing the bulk of the work.

ROASTED PUMPKIN, PEAR AND CHICKPEA SOUP

INGREDIENTS

• 800g trimmed pumpkin (buy 1kg) (I like Jap or Kent), cut into large chunks

• 1 red onion, peeled and quartered

• 1 ripe tomato, halved

• 5 cloves garlic, in skin

• 2 pears, cored and quartered

• fresh thyme

• 1 tab extra virgin olive oil

• 2-3 cups chicken or vegetable stock (GF if needed)

• 1 tin of chickpeas rinsed and drained

• greek yoghurt and toasted almonds or pepitas to serve

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Combine pumpkin, onion, tomato, garlic, pear and thyme sprigs on a lined baking tray, drizzle with olive oil. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until pumpkin is tender. Discard tomato skins and squeeze garlic out of skin

2. Put chicken stock in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add chickpeas to vegetable mixture and puree in a food processor, thinning with 2 cups of vegetable tock. Transfer to a saucepan and heat through. Add extra chicken stock until it is the consistency you like.

3. Serve with a dollop of greek yoghurt and topped with toasted almonds or pepitas

GF, VG

Rachel is a university qualified Clinical Nutritionist based in Balmain.  She is also the busy working mum of two teenagers, so is practical and realistic with her advice . Rachel offers private consultations to improve your family's health and well-being. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram for more healthy tips and tricks.