Grain Soup in Cream of Pumpkin and Lentils: “Smart Cooking” Recipe for the Coldest Days of the Year!
We have just entered the famous Days of the Blackbird. What better time to pamper yourself and warm up with a steaming and enveloping grain soup with pumpkin and lentil cream? A unique, nutritious, and 100% plant-based dish, designed to warm the heart and recharge the body with fibers and noble proteins.
Why is this Soup the Perfect Comfort Food?
In the heart of winter, our body seeks nutrients that support the immune system without weighing down digestion. In detail, the 5 Grains (Spelt, Barley, Rice, Wheat, Oats) guarantee a high sense of satiety. The choice of using pre-cooked ones is an excellent solution to save time without giving up nutritional benefits. This shows that you can eat well even when in a hurry! The lentils, rich in iron and plant proteins, are indispensable for a balanced diet. The pumpkin, finally, besides its enveloping sweetness, provides beta-carotene and essential minerals, creating a creamy base that makes the addition of fats or dairy products superfluous.
Slow Cooking for the Coldest Days
Preparing this soup is an invitation to slowness. Cooking the grains directly in the pumpkin cream allows the flavors to blend perfectly, creating a dense and “rustic” consistency that tastes of home and tradition. It is the ideal recipe for weekly meal prep: make plenty, because the next day, reheated, it’s even better!
If you love comfort food, here are some other soup, minestrone, and velvety recipes that might interest you:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4People
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter
Ingredients
⚠ THIS RECIPE CONTAINS ONE OR MORE AFFILIATE LINKS. The products I recommend are the same ones I use in my recipes; purchasing them through my blog helps support me and my work, while it won’t cost you anything extra!
- 10 oz mix of 5 pre-cooked grains
- 1 lb pumpkin
- 5 oz lentils (mignon)
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 carrot
- 5.5 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 bunch aromatic herbs (sage, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, and parsley)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2.7 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- to taste mixed peppercorns
Tools
- 1 Knife
- 1 Casserole
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Kitchen twine
Steps
To prepare the soup, start with the vegetables: wash and peel the pumpkin, removing the outer skin, inner fibers, and seeds, then cut it into regular cubes about 0.6 inches.; trim and peel the carrot, cutting it into brunoise, or uniform dice about 0.2 inches. Finally, do the same with the onion.
Now prepare an aromatic base by heating a generous drizzle of oil in a large casserole and browning the garlic clove and the chopped onion over high heat.
With untreated kitchen twine, create a bouquet of aromas, placing the bay leaves and sage to “protect” the thyme, rosemary, and parsley stems.* Tie the herbs tightly together with 2 or 3 rounds of twine.
Add the bouquet to the sauté, also add the carrot brunoise, let it flavor for 1 minute, then add the dry lentils, previously rinsed under running water.
Pour in 2-3 ladles of hot vegetable broth and let it flavor.
Add the pumpkin cubes and stir, keeping the heat high.
Now add the tomato paste with another ladle of hot broth to dissolve it.
After a couple of minutes, cover with the rest of the vegetable broth and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to minimum and cook for about 25′.
10 minutes before the end of cooking, adjust the salt and mix well.
At this point, take out three ladles of pumpkin and lentils and transfer them to an immersion blender.
Blend them repeatedly until you get a nice smooth and fluid cream and set aside.
Add the 5 grains to the soup and continue cooking for the remaining 10′ .
Once cooking is complete, pour the cream back into the pot. This will create that velvety “hug” that will welcome the grains.
Turn off the heat and adjust the salt and pepper. Let the soup rest covered for 2′-3′ before serving: this step will allow the grains to stabilize the starch and become one with the cream.
Serve with a drizzle of raw oil and coarsely chopped parsley leaves.
And there you have it… the grain soup in cream of pumpkin and lentils is ready to be enjoyed!
Bon Appétit from La Cucina di FeFè!
Storage
👉Since whole grains tend to absorb a lot of liquid during rest, store the soup for 3-4 days maximum in the fridge inside an airtight container (preferably glass) once cooled. You will notice that the next day the soup will appear very thick. To make it creamy again, add a ladle of hot water or vegetable broth while heating it, or, before putting it in the fridge, set aside 2 ladles of pumpkin cream to add when serving.
Tips, notes, variations, and suggestions
🟣*Creating an aromatic bouquet transforms a simple soup into a chef’s dish, allowing the essential oils of the herbs to be released without leaving woody residues in the final dish. The bay leaf (1 or 2 leaves) is essential for the digestibility of the legumes. The rosemary (1 generous sprig) pairs divinely with lentils and pumpkin. Sage (3-4 leaves) enhances the sweetness of the pumpkin. Finally, thyme (a couple of sprigs) and parsley (only the stems) offer a fresh, herbaceous, and balsamic note. Naturally, if you don’t have all of them available, you can add just one of those listed, or, in addition to the classic bouquet, to give a unique touch to your soup, you can use other herbs such as marjoram with a floral and citrus scent, ideal if you want a “gentle” and refined tasting soup, or fresh coriander with a pungent aroma.
🟣If you plan to store the soup, turn off the heat when the grains are still very al dente. They will finish hydrating with residual heat and subsequent reheating without becoming mushy.
🟣The grains: you can of course replace the pre-cooked grains (those in a bag or glass that cook in about 10 minutes) with dry grains of your choice. Naturally, cooking will be much longer and they will need to be added to your soup much earlier based on the times reported on the package you have chosen.
🟣For an extra health touch, add a pinch of turmeric or freshly grated ginger, which pairs divinely with pumpkin.
🟣For a gourmet touch, add a pinch of cinnamon after turning off.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
1. Can I use dry or pre-cooked lentils?
For an authentic flavor and better texture, I recommend dry lentils (small or red): they release starches that naturally thicken the soup. If you’re short on time, pre-cooked ones in a glass jar are a great dinner-saving alternative.
