Pumpkin Soup

A great recipe idea for you, perfect for this time of year (unless you had unseasonably warm temps like we did today, near 80). Still tasted good though. Make sure you read it in advance though. I thought we were going to have this for lunch, but then realized it took 4 hours just to cook the pumpkin. Don't let that scare you though - it's really very easy.

To cook a fresh pumpkin:
Cut top from 1 medium pumpkin (about 8 pounds); scoop out seeds and replace top. Place whole pumpkin on a baking sheet. Bake in 300 degree oven about 3 hours until tender. While pulp is still warm, scoop the pulp from the rind. Put warm pulp through food mill or puree in a blender.

In a saucepan cook the pumpkin puree over medium heat for 40-60 minutes or until reduced by half, stirring occasionally. Cool. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 4 days, or divide into 1-cup freezer containers, seal, label and freeze up to 1 year. Makes 3 1/2 cups.

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I bought the largest pie pumpkin I could find, and it made 5 cups, but maybe I didn't cook it long enough. The big carving pumpkins would make even more, and you could use for pumpking bars, bread, pie, soup, etc.

With my pumpkin puree, I made Pumpkin Soup:

1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups pumpkin puree (sometimes called 100% pumpkin)
3/4 cup green onions, chopped
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a soup pot, heat oil over medium-high heat and saute onions. Cook till very soft and add remaining ingredients, except milk. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes. Add milk and continue to cook (but not boil--it will break) for another 5 minutes.

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Very easy. It says it serves 6, but I'm not sure. It'd say maybe more like 4. If you have more, you like large bowls, or anyone will want seconds, you might want to make a double batch. To go with it I picked up some wheat dinner rolls and made a salad of spinach, feta, candied pecan, dried cranberries, and Italian dressing (didn't have any vinaigrette). YUMMY!

I know, I probably have some readers who wouldn't like this sort of thing. If you're not a picky eater, and are looking for a change of pace, this is a good one. The only thing I've had that's anything like it was the sauces we had in Haiti at the orphanage. Not the same, but very similar.

I forgot to take a picture of it, but it's kind of a orangish-yellow color. It's not a very thick soup. We decided it might be good to add in some chicken, carrots and cabbage, and then serve it over rice. Maybe we'll try that the next time.