Pumpkin soup with tahini and sumac-roasted pumpkin seeds

Vibrant, earthy, sweet, nutty, wintery

Dec 23, 2024

∙ Paid

Hello friends. It’s been a while, I know. I missed you too. I missed coming here to share my food and thoughts with you, and I would like to thank all of you who emailed me or left me messages here asking if I am okay. I am okay. I am more than okay. I am great actually. Better than I’ve been in a very long time.

What I’ve been up to these past few months? Well, for the whole of September I was on vacation in Greece having the time of my life. When I returned, my hair still smelled of the Mediterranean Sea, my face was still warm from the Greek sun —with small freckles that I always get and had missed seeing on my face—, and my kitchen smelled of dried oregano, mint, and quince spoon sweet while I savored each precious bite of the walnuts and honey I brought back from the mountains of North Euboea.

I returned to the Netherlands feeling re-energized, rejuvenated and excited for all that life had to offer. Vacation does that to you; makes you see life more clearly, set new goals, find the strength and courage to try new things.
Being with my family and loved ones in Greece made all the difference for me. I needed their kind words, their love and attention. I needed their wisdom and the belief that they have in me.

I had a fabulous time, with ups and downs —it wasn’t a drama-free time, let me tell you— but life happens, you know, life, with all the good and the bad. What you take from any experience and what you choose to keep close to your heart is the important part.
I chose to retain the positive feelings and relaxing mood, and the beautiful images of the places I’ve seen and of the faces I love and cherish.

And then worked happened, too much work to be exact, but the kind that makes you feel good about yourself, about your achievements and capabilities.
A positive vibe, a feeling of hopefulness and sweet anxiousness of what’s to come has been prevalent in my life these past few months and I cherish it.

As for this blog, I have neglected it, I am aware, but life is more important than any blog. Living life out there is what can make this right here more interesting. Not the other way around. So I don’t regret not being here but I promise to return more often and share with you all the delicious things I cook, eat and enjoy, because as I’ve said a myriad of times before, good things need to be shared.

I’ve made a version of this soup about four times this autumn, and now that winter is fast approaching, I thought it was a good time to share it with you. This is my final version of the soup, the one that for me is the best interpretation of the classic pumpkin soup with deeper, richer flavors.

More spicy, more vibrant, more earthy, more wintery. A soup capable to soothe your soul and comfort your body; warm you up and calm you down. With sweet carrots and leeks, pungent onions and garlic, a few mushrooms for their unsurpassed umami flavor and fresh thyme for its woody, grassy flavor; with creamy, earthy tahini that thickens the soup and adds a wonderfully smooth nutty flavor; with turmeric, coriander and a good amount of pul biber —the Turkish red chilli flakes that you may know as Aleppo pepper— giving a pungency and heat that I adore; with a topping of roasted pumpkin seeds flavored with cinnamon and sumac imparting a slightly sweet, sour, sharp and smoky flavor to the seeds and in effect to the soup.

I hope you enjoy it.
I am so glad to be back!