Pumpkin Soup with Hawaij, Yoghurt and Toasted Seeds

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220°C, or 200°C fan-forced.
2. Toss the pumpkin with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and half a teaspoon of the salt, and spread it over a large tray in one layer.
3. Roast for 25 minutes, turning once, until the edges are browned and catching.
4. While it roasts, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat.
5. Add the onion and the rest of the salt, and cook for 8 minutes until soft and golden at the edges.
6. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
7. Add the Hawaij paste and fry for 30 to 45 seconds, stirring, until it darkens a shade and you can smell the cardamom.
8. Tip in the roasted pumpkin and scrape the base of the pot.
9. Pour in the hot stock, bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 10 minutes.
10. Blend until completely smooth, with a stick blender in the pot or in batches in a jug blender.
11. Loosen with hot water a splash at a time until it coats the back of a spoon and slides off cleanly.
12. Season with the lemon juice and more salt, tasting as you go. The lemon is what stops it tasting flat.
13. Whisk the yoghurt, tahini, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and the water together until it pours from a spoon in a ribbon.
14. Toast the pumpkin and sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 3 minutes, shaking often, until they pop and colour.
15. Ladle the soup into bowls, swirl through the yoghurt, scatter the seeds, and finish with a drizzle of oil and the chilli flakes.

What to put beside it

Soup this smooth wants something to tear and dip. Warm artisan pita with olive oil and sea salt is the honest answer at $6.95 a pack, split and crisped in the oven for the last 5 minutes of the pumpkin's roast. A scatter of Ottolenghi Aleppo & Other Chillies over the yoghurt is the other finish worth having: it is a blend of dried chillies rather than a single hot one, so it reads as fruity and warm next to the cardamom instead of simply sharp.

It keeps for 4 days in the fridge and freezes well for 3 months, though freeze it before the yoghurt and seeds go on. Reheat gently and expect to loosen it with a little water, because it thickens as it sits.

Questions people ask

What is hawaij?

Hawaij is a Yemeni spice blend, pronounced ha-WAY-ij. The savoury version used here brings together ginger, cardamom and turmeric with cinnamon and cloves, and it is traditionally stirred into soups and stews as they cook. A separate sweet hawaij, built on cardamom, ginger and cinnamon, goes into coffee. Ottolenghi's is the savoury one, sold as a paste so the grinding and measuring is already done.

How much hawaij paste do you use in soup?

About 60g, or three tablespoons, for a soup built on 1.2kg of vegetables and 1.2L of stock. That is roughly a third of a 170g jar. Add it to the hot pot before the liquid and give it 30 seconds in the oil, then taste once the soup is blended. It is easier to add a second spoonful than to dilute a pot you have overspiced.

What else can I make with Ottolenghi Hawaij paste?

It goes well beyond soup. Loosen a spoonful in olive oil and toss it through carrots or cauliflower before roasting, beat it into softened butter for corn and flatbread, or fry it into the base of a lamb stew. Ottolenghi's own Hawaij chicken a la king uses it in a creamy pan sauce with grated carrot and golden raisins, and we have written up eight ways to use Hawaij paste if you want the full list.

If you are buying the jar

We taste everything we range, and this one earns its shelf on what it does to a soup pot on a Tuesday rather than on the name on the label. The Ottolenghi range runs from the pastes and marinades through to the cookbooks, and the Ottolenghi hampers are the version to send to someone who cooks.

Everything is picked and packed by hand in our Corio room in Victoria. Orders placed before 12pm on a weekday are dispatched the same day, and shipping is free Australia-wide on orders over $100.