Recipes

Pumpkin Soup with Harissa and Orange

A recipe for Pumpkin Soup with Harissa and Orange. This soup is great to enjoy as lunch or as a light post-holiday dinner. The spicy Harissa paste and the orange juice and zest give the soup a North-African/Middle Eastern vibe. Recipe by That Healthy Kitchen

A recipe for Pumpkin Soup with Harissa and Orange. This soup is great to enjoy as lunch or as a light post-holiday dinner. The spicy Harissa paste and the orange juice and zest give the soup a North-African/Middle Eastern vibe. Recipe by That Healthy Kitchen

I know there are already two pumpkin soup recipes up on That Healthy Kitchen (this simple spicy one with chickpeas and this creamy one with coconut milk) and now I would like to add yet another one to my ever growing list of recipes: Pumpkin Soup with Harissa and Orange.

To those of you that don’t know what Harissa is, don’t worry, until two years ago I didn’t know either, but now I adore it! Harissa is a North-African/Middle Eastern sauce made from roasted bell peppers, red chillies, garlic and spices. Basically it is just Sriracha sauce, African/Middle Eastern style. Ever since I saw this recipe from Tieghan from Half Baked Harvest I’ve been wanting to make it at home too, but sometimes our “to-make wish list” just gets too long. I’m guessing basically everybody with Pinterest has that nowadays lol #toomuchinspiration

A recipe for Pumpkin Soup with Harissa and Orange. This soup is great to enjoy as lunch or as a light post-holiday dinner. The spicy Harissa paste and the orange juice and zest give the soup a North-African/Middle Eastern vibe. Recipe by That Healthy Kitchen

However, for this soup I just used store-bought Harissa paste, which works really great if you buy a good one a.k.a. one without many additives and flavor enhancers and all that crap. Harissa really adds a nice spicy element without overruling all the other flavors in the soup or burning your mouth. The orange zest and juice adds another really nice and rather surprising element. The first time I made this soup, I knew that something was missing, I just couldn’t point it out. Then one of my flatmates suggested adding a sour or sweet element, and ta-da: perfection happened ✨

A recipe for Pumpkin Soup with Harissa and Orange. This soup is great to enjoy as lunch or as a light post-holiday dinner. The spicy Harissa paste and the orange juice and zest give the soup a North-African/Middle Eastern vibe. Recipe by That Healthy Kitchen

This soup has a great balance of the slightly sweet flavor of the butternut squash, a little spicy from the Harissa paste, a little sour from the orange and a lot of flavor from the fresh thyme. When typing that I also realized I apparently (and unconsciously) really have a thing for the combination of butternut squash + thyme + orange: remember this Winter Quinoa Salad?

A recipe for Pumpkin Soup with Harissa and Orange. This soup is great to enjoy as lunch or as a light post-holiday dinner. The spicy Harissa paste and the orange juice and zest give the soup a North-African/Middle Eastern vibe. Recipe by That Healthy Kitchen

Anyhow, this soup is delicious and you should definitely go make it!! Don’t forget to share your picture on Instagram using the hashtag #thathealthykitchen. I love seeing others recreate my recipes :)

A recipe for Pumpkin Soup with Harissa and Orange. This soup is great to enjoy as lunch or as a light post-holiday dinner. The spicy Harissa paste and the orange juice and zest give the soup a North-African/Middle Eastern vibe. Recipe by That Healthy Kitchen

Pumpkin Soup with Harissa and Orange
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 1 hour 10 mins
Total time: 1 hour 20 mins
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
1 butternut squash
15 gram fresh thyme
2 teaspoons Harissa paste
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 onions
1 red chili
1 orange
1,5 L water (or use stock for added flavor)
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Cube the butternut squash and mix it with the thyme, Harissa paste and 1 teaspoon olive oil. Roast them in the oven for about 1 hour or until the squash is fork tender.
3. Dice the onions and chili, and add to a large soup pan with the leftover teaspoon olive oil and a little water. Heat over low fire and make sure the onions and chili do not burn.
4. Add the pumpkin, zest and juice of the orange and the water to the soup pan, turn up the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Blend the soup either with a stick blender or (in parts) in a blender.

Nutritional information per serving
155 kcals
2.1 gram fat
36 gram carbohydrates
of which 7.2 gram fiber and 9.7 gram sugar
3.3 gram protein

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6 Comments

  • Reply Susanne November 26, 2015 at 17:51

    I sweeeaaar that pumpkin soup is on the menu tonight, before even knowing that you were going to post this!! I have never even heard of the paste so I will be shopping for this verrrry soon ;)

    • Reply Emma November 27, 2015 at 13:49

      Ahh what a coincidence!! I love Harissa! You can just get it at Albert Heijn ;)

  • Reply Toby December 6, 2015 at 01:24

    Love the photos and the beautiful styling! Where are the bowls from?

    • Reply Emma December 7, 2015 at 14:40

      Thank you so much Toby! I bought the bowls at a Dutch webshop (vtwonen.nl) and the brand is House Doctor. Hope that helps!! :)

  • Reply Elizabeth June 1, 2016 at 18:27

    Gorgeous photography, Emma! Harissa is a popular condiment extensively used, especially in Tunisian cuisine, and loved the idea of pairing it with butternut squash. Thank you for this recipe!
    Keep in touch! xo ;)

    • Reply Emma June 2, 2016 at 14:22

      Thank you so much Elizabeth! It really is a delicious combo with the orange as well :)

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