Pumpkin and Leek Soup

August 13, 2002

The house is sufficiently back in order for us to be able to invite friends around for dinner once more without subjecting them to an obstacle course between the door and the dinner table.

I always think the job is nearly done when the pictures go back up on the walls. Of course, when there's a change in colour schemes, some pictures and ornaments no longer go with the decor. But then other paintings come alive as the strong colour on a feature wall brings out different tones.

Of course nothing is ever plain sailing. The new wooden slat venetian blinds went up in the study at the weekend. They looked great except one was a bit half-mast like a tall man's trousers, revealing the window sill. I did a quick count - one had 42 slats, the other 41. At least when you've paid only a half deposit, you are in a bargaining position!

We were planning to replace the carpet on the staircase with wooden flooring. But after the carpet layers had completed their job, we were left with a surprising amount of surplus floor covering, which we man-handled from room to room trying to find a permanent home for it.

Carpet is not the sort of stuff you can poke away in a drawer or shove in a roof cavity. There was too much of it to go in my normal hiding place - under a bed. And then I had this brilliant idea for a novel place to store it - on the stairs. Back came the carpet quantity surveyor who confirmed there was enough for the job.

I had a similar rush blood to the brain when we had a relatively unused but fairly functional looking gas fire removed from the living room to make way for one that looks like an open fire. It seemed too good to throw out - and then we realized there was a gas pipe under the new study which had been the kitchen in a former life. The old heater looks perfectly good in its new home and keeps the whole room warm on only one burner once the three burners and booster fan raise the temperature.

When I was shopping for a meal for our dinner guests the other day, the green skinned buttercup pumpkins looked good and so did the leeks. Torn between the two I made:

Pumpkin and Leek Soup

1/2 a floury pumpkin such as buttercup
1 leek
olive oil
several sprigs of fresh basil and dill
200ml white wine
1 litre stock (I used green herb stock powder and water)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon curry powder
light sour cream
dill for garnish

Peel and dice the pumpkin. Wash any grit from the leek and slice.

Heat some oil in a deep saucepan and saute the leek for a few minutes over a medium heat. Add the pumpkin, herbs, wine, stock and curry powder, bring to the boil. Simmer until the pumpkin is tender. Allow to cool then push through a sieve or use a wand-style blender until the soup is smooth.

Reheat, season with salt and freshly ground white pepper, and serve with a swirl of light sour cream and a little sprig of dill.

Don't overdo the curry powder. You just want a subtle undertaste. You might want to serve it with poppadums by way of a change from bread. Uncooked poppadums can be quickly puffed up in a microwave - usually a bit less than a minute for each one.