I really do love this cold weather! I've been thinking about this for a while. I've done the pumpkin and fennel combo before but this time I thought I would make it into a soup! Chuck in some thyme and garlic and make my own bowls too! This would be a cute little starter for a small dinner party of 6 to 8 people or even something wintery to add to your High tea instead of sandwiches.
How to make your Pumpkin, Thyme and Fennel Soup in Bread Bowls
Ingredients
1 small fennel (about 100g after taking off fronds) finely sliced
1 garlic, peeled and halved
a small handful of thyme (kept on the stalks) about 2g
small piece of pumpkin (about 300g after slicing off skins) chop into small cubes
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
8 slices of fresh white bread
approx 60g salted butter melted
sour cream, optional
Method
Set oven temp to 190C. In a baking dish throw in the first 4 ingredients then add salt and pepper and good dashes of extra virgin olive oil. Pop in the oven for 45 minutes or until pumkin is cooked through.
At the 30 minute mark, Grab a muffin tin and your slices of bread. Cut off crusts plus a little extra so they will fit nicely in the muffin tin (don't worry about being neat) Now melt the butter in the microwave or on the stove. Using a pastry brush apply a light coating of butter on both sides. Then slowly push them into their muffin holes. Bake for 10 mins or until slightly browned then take out and leave in their tray so they will harden up.
Puree the soup (keeping aside all the thyme stalks) and if you think it's too thick just add freshly boiled water a little at a time. Be careful though, you don't want it too runny or it will go straight through the bread bowl!
Garnish with the crispy thyme leaves pulled from the stalks and a dollop of sour cream and freshly cracked pepper. Enjoy warm.
The suitcase at the top is a new listing in my shop, the fox & the spoon on Etsy. I bough the gorgeous Guest hand-towel from the gorgeous vintage shop, Frou Frou. The lovely owner, Parisa use to run Frou Frou in Lilyfield many years ago. We lived right down the road from her and any given opportunity I was in there! I loved her window displays and her gathering of interesting things. I bought many beautiful things from her shop and the last item I remember, before she closed up to head back to the Mountains, a pair of vintage pillowcases. I still use them today. I bumped into Parisa a few months back and she told me she had opened a new Frou Frou in Springwood. During the School Holidays we decided to pop in and say hello and of course buy something! I saw the hand stitched Guest towel and fell in love.....How adorable is it!
