Pumpkin and Red Lentil Soup with Gingered Leeks

1 exam down, 2 to go! Although my next exam is only 1 1/2 days away, at least I can just focus on one exam at a time now instead of having to do two at once. Since my exam was on a Saturday morning I decided that I would treat myself to breakfast at the local Otago farmers market. I had a delicious Blackcurrant and Apple porridge topped with some reeeeeealy good muesli. This was delicious and perfect to keep me going through my exam. I also had a coffee to give me a caffeine boost.

Anyway, I have been living off this soup for lunches the past week as it was a perfect, easy lunch to just heat up and since the weather has been a little chilly, it was what I was feeling like. The past couple of times that I have made pumpkin soup, they have been a little bland. This time around, I wanted to make sure that this soup had lots of flavour, so I decided to amp it up with some ginger. I also used some of my homemade chicken stock which tastes delicious!

Perfect on a chilli night, with some nice crusty bread!

Ingredients
1/2 a large leek, sliced thinly
1-2 Tbsp butter
Thumb-nail size piece of ginger grated
1 kg pumpkin, peeled and diced into 2cm pieces
1/2 cup red lentils
2 cups chicken stock (or more vegetable stock)
2 cups vegetable stock
(any leftover vegetables. I threw in some cauliflower)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot over a medium heat melt the butter. Add the leeks and gently cook for around 10 minutes or until they are soft.

Add the ginger and cook for 2-3 minutes longer, or until fragrant.

Add the pumpkin and red lentils and stir to mix well with the leeks. Add the stocks and turn the heat up. Throw in any other vegetables that you want to use. If the stock does not cover the vegetables, add more water until it does.

Turn up the heat to bring to the boil and then turn it back down to a simmer. Cook for 20-30 minutes or until the pumpkin is very soft.

Using a blender, stick blender of food processor, puree the soup. Add more water to reach a consistency that you like (we like it really thick). Return to the pot to reheat.

Serve with sour cream or parmesan.