Pumpkin soup

For Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I re-post today this entry, which I originally wrote in October 2009, it's still as good as then, I tweaked the recipe to accommodate vegetarians as well. 

Everywhere in my blog neighborhoods appear dishes and recipes. See here and here... The season invites for home cooked meals, friends around the table and the splendors of autumn to be enjoyed. Last Saturday's market stroll yielded many fruits and vegetables, among them a sumptuous heirloom pumpkin, which begged to be made into a lovely soup for Sunday nights family dinner, book club guests snack later and follow up lunch on Monday.



My youngest stood by when I carved the top off and deep into the orange flesh to reveal a wonderful terrine for the soup later on.
It smelled delicious and we first roasted the pumpkin seeds as a snack.



Recipe for heirloom pumpkin soup:

1 medium size pumpkin
2 apples
1 medium size onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
5 carrots
1 quart of vegetable or chicken broth
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1/4 stick butter or 3 tbs olive oil, thyme, parsley, ginger, chopped raw spouted almonds, pepper and sea salt.
1/2 cup half and half

To sprout almonds: soak raw almonds for about three hours, rinse, drain and put in a glass jar to sprout for a few hours, small tips will appear on the small end of almonds, use as usual or dry in dehydrator until dry. If you want them raw, do not roast them.

Carve the pumpkin carefully, let there be enough flesh be around to keep the pumpkin as a serving bowl.
Set aside.
Cut flesh in to smaller pieces, take out some of the stringy pumpkin fibers, sort out seeds for roasting.
Spread seeds - washed and dried - on to a baking sheet, bake @ 350 degree for about 15 min, until crispy.
Cut apples, onion, garlic and carrots in smaller pieces and roast in butter or oil for a couple of minutes. Do not burn the garlic and onions. Empty chicken or vegetable broth in large stockpot, add pumpkin pieces and all the gently roasted vegetables and bring to a boil, add thyme, gently cook for about 30 minutes, until all is soft.
In Blender blend small batches of soup and return to pot. Add fresh ginger, pepper and salt and keep warm. Reduce to a comfortable thickness. Take off the heat.
Add half and half. (Or leave that out) Serve with chopped almonds and a good measure of parsley!
For added drama serve in your pumpkin!

Bon appetite!






It lasted until today, when the last soup was finally eaten for another lunch!
All what's left now is a pumpkin waiting to get a happy face!

xx
Victoria




All images by V.Zlotkowski