Sunday, September 13, 2009

Pumpkin Soup

I have no pictures for this post (amended 12/7/09!), because I forgot to take them while making this soup last night, but that's ok. We all know what a pumpkin soup would look like (yellow to orange..and soupy).

I really winged the recipe, didn't use anything but a few hints from recipes I sort of liked, but nothing really got my attention. I wanted something simple, and everything I found had too many flavors that I wasn't looking for. The only thing I would change would be to either use two small pumpkins or a larger single pumpkin.

Ingredients:

One medium sized pumpkin (I used a pumpkin on the smaller side, probably only about 2.5 lbs)
1/2 large onion (I used one small Walla Walla onion)
2 tbs olive oil
4 cups chicken stock - adjust according to how thick you would like the soup
splash of milk or heavy cream (I had neither so I used half & half)
salt and pepper
dash of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of nutmeg

You need to roast the pumpkin first. Cut up and 'gut' the pumpkin, saving the seeds to roast later if you like them (I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!)

After you cut it into large chunks, peels off the outer skin. Cut up into small pieces, about an inch or two.

Spread out on a baking sheet and cook at about 250°F for about an hour, but this really depends on how much you have and how small the pieces are. I probably needed about an hour, but mine was small and I cut it into very small pieces.

Once the pumpkin is done, add olive oil to large pot. Saute onions until they start to brown, and then add the pumpkin. Cook for about another minute, and add the chicken stock. Add salt and pepper as desired, and cover while simmering for about 30 minutes.

Allow the soup to cool a bit, and then blend until smooth (do this in a least two batches, unless using an immersion blender...which I did not). Add a bit of milk or cream to taste, and add a pinch of cinnamon and about 1/2 tsp of nutmeg.

Simple, easy and delicious. If you chose to roast the pumpkin seeds, you can add these on top as a garnish when serving.