Here in London Halloween has been and gone and everywhere Christmas lights are starting to appear. In this house we like to decorate for the season, and so we had a couple of pumpkins that were adorning a worktop. This Parsnip and Pumpkin Soup came from my in ability to throw away perfectly usable food.
Here in the UK we throw away 10.2 million tonnes of food a year! This is an astonishing statistic, what makes this even more shocking is that 7.1 million tonnes of this is from households. In the UK from our houses we throw away over 7 million tonnes of food. You could argue that the food must be bad and not safe to eat. However, of the total 10.2 million tonnes 5 millions tonnes is perfectly edible. That is almost half.
These figures are alarming and when you work out how much money we are throwing away it is crazy. It works out, on average as £17.50 a month per person. Therefore a family of four would throw away £840 per year! Of course this is not just a problem for our wallets it is a problem for the planet. The 10.2m tonnes of food waste ends up in landfill and releases methane, in fact contributes the same amount of greenhouse gasses as 3.5 million cars. This is something we really do need to change.
At the end of all of my recipes I have a ‘leftovers tip’ what can you do with leftovers. This is a question I ask myself every time I create a meal. It can be as simple as I will freeze it and have it again or it can be used to make an entirely new dish.
Another way to combat food waste is to write a food plan. At the start of every week my fiancée and I write down what meals we are going to have for the week and then we buy the food we need to make them. This really does reduce our food waste and also saves money, as we are not popping to the shop every few days.
Another couple of things worth noting are portion sizes. If you over serve you tend to throw away. People can always ask for more if they need it. Also make sure you look at the dates on food and keep track of them The difference between a Best Before date and a Use By date is very important. Use By means the food must be used by that date or it may be unsafe to eat. Best Before means that after this date the food will still be perfectly edible but will not be at its ‘best’.
This Parsnip and Pumpkin Soup is so easy to make and makes a big batch. It freezes well also. I freeze it in portions so that it is readily available for those days when there is no time to cook or no will to cook. If you wanted to loosen up the texture after defrosting add a splash of almond milk and that will work brilliantly.
I serve this with croutons another idea is to use the seed from the pumpkin and roast them tossed in garlic oil with a sprinkle of paprika & chilli flakes. These would provide a satisfying crunch and would not be thrown out. I used the pumpkin seeds in energy balls this time. Another soup I have on the blog is my Carrot & Coriander Soup.
I know using a pumpkin is a commitment and it takes a while to prep and chop however it really is worth the effort as this a great tasting soup with a bright yellow colour. The addition of the sage and chilli bring earthy notes and piquant touches to this blanket of comfort. This really is the perfect soup to enjoy on a cold night, it would also be a great pasta sauce if you only had a little left over, great a vegetarian option or if you wanted you could add pancetta and mix through cooked pasta that would be fantastic.
If you try this Parsnip and Pumpkin Soup I would love to hear what you thought in the comments below. You can share your pictures on social media with me. Tag me on Instagram @cubbinthekitchen or use the #CUBBintheKitchen to be featured in my stories.
Pumpkin & Parsnip Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Pumpkin
- 4 Parsnips
- 1 Onion
- 1.5 tsp Dried Sage
- 1 tsp Chilli Flakes
- 1.75 Litres Stock Vegetable or Chicken
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- Halve the Pumpkin and scoop out the seeds.(Wash and dry the seeds to use in another recipe or as a soup topping)Dice the Pumpkin into chunks roughly 1 inch.
- Peel and chop the Parsnips equal chunks.Peel and finely chop the Onion.
- Heat a splash of Oil in a large pan.Cook the onion and soften for about 5 minutes.Add the Dried Sage and the Chilli Flakes and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the chopped Pumpkin and Parsnips and stir.Add the Stock and bring to a boil.Turn down the heat and let simmer for 25 minutes until all the veg is fork tender.
- Blitz with a stick blender and serve.
