Hokkaido pumpkin and red lentil soup

Tip: tap a step to mark it as done.

1. Prepare the vegetables

   Wash the Hokkaido pumpkin and remove the stem and soft, seedy center. Weigh out 800 g of the trimmed flesh with the skin on, then cut it into roughly 2 cm cubes. Thinly slice the carrots and finely chop the onion and garlic. Rinse the lentils in a strainer.

2. Sauté the onion

   Heat the oil in a large pot. Sauté the onion over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds.

3. Bring to a boil

   Add the pumpkin, carrots, and lentils. Pour in the broth, stir, and bring to a boil.

4. Simmer until tender

   Reduce the heat and simmer with the lid partially open for about 20–25 minutes. The pumpkin and carrots should mash easily with a fork, and the lentils should be completely soft.

5. Blend and season

   Remove the pot from the heat. Carefully blend the soup with an immersion blender, keeping the blender head submerged. Stir in the lemon juice and black pepper. Only then taste and add salt according to how salty the broth is. If the soup is too thick, stir in up to 200 ml of hot water a little at a time.

Tip: Rinse and dry the seeds removed from the Hokkaido pumpkin, then toast them in a dry skillet until crisp. Use them as a topping for the soup.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Tekvicová polievka z hokkaida a červenej šošovice