14 September, 2019

Pumpkin Soup from Fresh Pumpkin

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
One 2-pound sugar pie pumpkin
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 large or 3 medium garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1 TBSP butter
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash of cloves
Tiny dash of cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper
2 TBSP chicken broth concentrate
½ water
2 cups whole milk

Instructions

    Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel pumpkin, remove seeds, cut into 2”-ish cubes. (You can roast the seeds if you’d like for garnish).
    Drizzle ½ tablespoon olive oil over the flesh of the pumpkin and place the chunks onto the baking sheet. Roast for 35 minutes or so, until the orange flesh is easily pierced through with a fork. Set it aside to cool for a few minutes.
    Heat the remaining 1½ tablespoons olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add onion, garlic and salt to the skillet. Stir to combine. Add butter. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add milk and bring back up to temperature.
    Add the pumpkin flesh, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cayenne pepper, and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper. Use your stirring spoon to break up the pumpkin a bit. Pour in the broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, to give the flavors time to meld.
    Once the pumpkin mixture is done cooking, remove the soup from heat and let it cool slightly. Use an immersion blender to blend this soup in the pot. (Alternatively, use a stand blender, which yields the creamiest results, but cool the soup some, first.)
    Ladle the soup into individual bowls.Consider garnishing with shredded cheese, perhaps parmesan or another hard cheese, or maybe with those roasted nuts..
    Let leftover soup cool completely before transferring it to a proper storage container and refrigerating it for up to 4 days (leftovers taste even better the next day!). Or, freeze this soup for up to 3 months.

Served this with fried garlic toast.