Gordon Ramsay's Pumpkin Soup With Wild Mushrooms

Right. Listen, I need some help. OK, we're going to make the most amazing pumpkin soup. Feel? Isn't that heavy? It's very heavy. But it is going to be absolutely delicious, right? You can always tell, OK, if it's ripe, it will bang on there. What does that sound like? Um, drums. Drums, that's right. And if you push your thumb in there, it should be just a little bit soft right at the bottom of the root. First of all, we're going to cut it in half. And very carefully, just cut through. I'm using a French pumpkin, but these versatile vegetables come in all shapes and sizes and colors. At this time of year, their nutty sweetness is ideal for warming soups, curries, and roasts. Wait and see what happens when we open this up. Wow. Right, Holly, that's for you. Now, this is where it's going to get a little bit gory, OK? You get your hands and you scrape the seeds out. I like getting messy. Rub them together and just give them a little clean. Nice and gently, good. Yeah, nice. Look at that. Yuck. What do you mean, yuck? Come on, Holly. That's it, into the water. Now, once the seeds are out, we're going to toast them in the oven as a little snack. So this is a really nice way of not wasting anything. Get your fingers right in there, Tilly. There you go. Boo. Blech! Once the pumpkin seeds are out, score the flesh to help it roast and absorb flavor. Season and add a generous amount of rosemary. Take the garlic, rub around the outside so it perfumes the inside. Then add a large glug of olive oil. And as the garlic roasts with the rosemary, its sweet, almost buttery, nutty taste will mellow and flavor the pumpkin. All the seeds done? Yeah, almost. Good. After the pumpkin seeds have been cleaned, dry and season them, ready for the oven. Now, they're going to roast in the oven for about 45 to 50 minutes. Well done. Good. I want you to smell the house in about five minutes' time. Tray, please, Holly. So beautiful, straight in. Right, well done. Big question, have you wrapped Mummy's present yet? No. Let's go. I'll give you a hand, quickly. God, that garlic smells amazing. Oh, yeah. Holly, Tilly, where's Holly? She's gone to a party. She's gone to a party? Oh, no. Any boys there? I don't know. Oh, you're so diplomatic. Right, look. They are now toasted. Hear that? Right, have a little taste of one of those. Nice? But look at this. Wow. That looks amazing. And that is your roasted pumpkin. Now, you put the spoon down the side, OK? Scooping out all that lovely roast pumpkin. We don't waste anything. Hear that skin? All into the center. Roasting a pumpkin intensifies the rich, sweet flavor of its flesh, which is lovely for soups, but also great as a filling for ravioli or making a delicious mash with butter, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. That's the pumpkin done. Now, what I want you to do is get these mushrooms here and just peel them lengthways, OK? Onto the plate. OK, now I'll get my onion. Chopped. Olive oil in. OK? Nice and generous with the olive oil, because we want this soup to be really nice and velvety. Onions in. And then scoop out that wonderful garlic that's been roasted on the pumpkin. Lovely. A little bit of nutmeg on top of the onions. Onions, garlic, nutmeg, yeah? And now, the pumpkin. Wow. See that? I knew it would come in handy somewhere. This, little baby, is for you. There you go. Perfect. Now, I want you just to grate some parmesan like that for me. OK? Just so I can start roasting off the parmesan as well, so we get this really nice, rich, delicious pumpkin. Parmesan's brilliant for enriching this soup. Its mellow caramel flavor and saltiness provide a lovely balance to the sweet pumpkin. Now, what I want you to do is tip all that in there. OK? Yeah. Good. Look at that now. That, huh? Mm, smell that. Roasted sort of cheesy rosemary. Garlicky, yeah. Olive oily, beautiful. So far, nothing's gone to waste. We've used the whole pumpkin. Now, I'm going to add the stock my ham was cooked in. It smells like cinnamon. It does smell like cinnamon, doesn't it? It smells Christmassy. Delicious. Very Christmassy. That's just from cooking our ham. Bring that up to the boil. I'm going to let that cook out for 10 minutes. Cream, really important that it's boiling when the cream goes in. OK, you'll see the color lightening. So that's going to give it a really nice, rich, creamy taste. OK, now we're going to saute the mushrooms. A little bit of olive oil in there, yeah? Get nice and hot. We'll go first with the trompe de l'amore. In you go. Good girl. Then the pied de mouton. In. And then finally, chanterelle. Nice. Lovely. I'm going to put a little bit of butter in there. Off you go. Good girl. A little bit of butter there. Nice. I love the deep, complex flavor of wild mushrooms. But if you can't get them, chestnut or filled mushrooms still deliver great taste. Mushrooms work really well with pumpkin because they have a warm, earthy flavor that complements the pumpkin beautifully. So mushrooms into the center, yeah? Yeah. From there, we get the parmesan and just peel nice, long layers. Watch very carefully. Just sit that on top. The parmesan helps to season the mushroom and really give off an amazing flavor. OK. We're going to blend the soup. And all we're going to do is half fill the blender so the soup gets really nicely aerated. Now, this is a bit of a naughty chef's trick. A little knob of butter in there, just in top. So when it blends, it gets really nice and smooth. Lid on. Onto the blender. And we'll just pulse it on and off first. Nice. Wow. And this is the moment we've all been waiting for. Just one side of the bowl. So that's Daddy's portion. That, this little bit, is yours. Mm. Now, a little taste. Blow it gently. Mm. Yum.