When I was a kid, my favourite month was definitely September. It meant staying at my grandma Italia’s farm (yep, like the country!) with my cousins. There we would do a bunch of kids stuff outdoors but also help out in the grapes harvest (for the amazing green wine), learn how to make bread at my grandma’s bakery and pick vegetables, among which the first pumpkins! My oldest cousin had a thing for pumpkin seeds and he used to convince us that scooping them from the pumpkins was great fun!!
So I went to the market and found a small orange pumpkin. I was craving for pumpkin seeds but I was going to do them the traditional way. So, today I did this super healthy, immune-boosting and low fodmap pumpkin and ginger soup. Tomorrow I will do and post the desired roasted pumpkin seeds recipe along with a surprise.
While Fall is arriving, it is important to boost our system with super foods, and even more so when you have a fragile digestive system. The pumpkin is incredibly rich in vital antioxidants and vitamins. The fresh ginger is effective in alleviating symptoms of gastrointestinal distress and is also antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. This is even more important when our diet restricts garlic, another powerful anti-inflamatory food.
And because today´s recipe is all about healthy ingredients, I chose these three great toppings: roasted sesame seeds, extra virgin olive oil and scallions. As most of us low fodmappers cannot tolerate dairy, freshly crushed sesame seeds are a great source of calcium. Olive oil is loaded with antioxidants and healthy fats (even more when not cooked) and scallions (spring onions in the UK) are a low-calorie vegetable, rich in vitamines A and K.
Pumpkin and Ginger Soup
Ingredients
- 2 lb | 1 kg japanese pumpkin 1 small
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger root grated
- a pinch of salt
- 1 cup scallions green tops sliced
- 2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds freshly crushed
- a dash of olive oil extra virgin
Instructions
- In a large saucepan add the seedless pumpkin cut into chunks and pour in water until it's covered.
- Bring to a gentle boil and cook over a medium high heat for 25 minutes, until pumpkin is mushy.
- Add the fresh ginger and the salt and purée the soup with a hand blender or in a food processor.
- Stir in the scallions, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Just before serving, stir in the olive oil and the roasted sesame seeds.
Notes
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