Roasted Pumpkin, Boc Choy, Miso & Lentil Soup

Roasted Pumpkin with Bok Choy Lentil Soup


½ small or medium pumpkin (say kent or butternut)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil for coating pumpkin, plus 2 tablespoons for sautéing
1 cup dried lentils (orange)
2 litres water, 4 teasp stock powder
2 teas miso paste (shiro), some dulce seaweed (1/2 handful chopped with scissors)
1 teas salt,
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8 button mushrooms, chopped
1 pound bok choy, washed and hard ends sliced off (also slice 1/3 lengthways- easier to eat)
1 teaspoon paprika

Wash the rind of the pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and, wish a sturdy knife; cut the squash into 20 cm slices (angled). Toss the pumpkin in olive oil, salt.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lay the pumpkin slices on a trays lined with baking paper. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, turning the pumpkin over halfway through, until tender (and well roasted).
At 25 minutes before the pumpkin is done, bring 2 litres of water to boil. Add dried lentils, and cook until soft, about 20 minutes. Add miso, salt (1 teasp) seaweed and stock powder.

While lentils are cooking, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet. Add onions, sauté, when nearly transparent and beginning to caramelise add the garlic. After a while add mushrooms, sauté for 5 to 6 minutes. Put into soup mix. Turn heat up on pan and add a bit more oil, add bok choy (keep stirring the greens) and cook until beginning to brown in places and obviously well cooked. Transfer vegetables to soup pot.

Divide soup into individual bowls. Serve with pumpkin slices on the side, can slice pumpkin into bite-sized pieces and add to soup.

This recipe my husband adapted from appetite for China's recipe, Roasted Kaboucha Squash with Bok Choy