Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

• L>ow-fat cooking spray or mist
• 2 red onions, chopped
• 1 celery heart, trimmed and chopped
• 1 tsp chopped red chilli
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 800 g pumpkin, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 200 g carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1½ tsp garam masala
• 275 g small cherry tomatoes halved
• ¾ cup red lentils
• 1 ltr hot water or light vegetable stock/bouillon
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Generously spray a very large pan with low-fat cooking spray or mist.
2. Heat, add the onions, celery and chilli and cook for 8-10 minutes until softened and lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute.
3. Add the pumpkin and carrots and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the garam masala and cook for 1 minute then add the tomatoes, lentils, water or stock and salt and pepper to taste, mixing well. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.
5. Blitz the soup, in batches until smooth (or retain a little texture if you prefer your soup that way), return to the pan and reheat gently to serve.