Pumpkin Soup

Incredibly yummy pumpkin soup topped with sour cream and chives

Maybe I've simply led a sheltered life, but until a few years ago I had never eaten anything made with pumpkins other than pumpkin pie (unless you count the Dunkin' Donuts inundation we get at a certain time of year with all of their muffins and donuts).

I had no clue exactly how versatile the pumpkin is - nor did I realize that in certain parts of Italy, the pumpkin is a staple in cooking and has been for centuries. I learned all of these things when I bought a cookbook a few years ago that has hundreds of recipes for using pumpkin. Who'd a thunk it? Pumpkin, this staple of pies in thousands (if not millions) of households every Thanksgiving, ALSO in hundreds of different recipes? I certainly never would have realized it!

One of those hundreds of things I hadn't tried until recently was pumpkin soup. Pumpkin and butternut squash can be used interchangeably and I have certainly made many different versions with butternut squash but for some reason I simply hadn't tried it with pumpkin.

I've since remedied that! Unfortunately, at this time of year here in New England, I had to settle for canned pumpkin (I much prefer roasting and pureeing a whole pumpkin myself but that's difficult to do when there are none to be had!). Even with canned pumpkin, it was still a hit even with my 17 year old that swears he hates pumpkin (he had two bowls!).

If you try it, let me know what you think in the comments.

Prepping the ingredients - I made a double batch
since it was going with us to a dinner party

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
• 1 cup chopped onion (approx. 1 medium onion)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced 
• 2 tsp mild curry (I use the Penzey's Sweet Curry exclusively - other curries can be WAY too hot for my wimpy palate)
• 1 tsp salt (use more or less to taste) 
• 1/2 tsp coriander 
• 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper 
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground dried rosemary
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• dash nutmeg  
• 3 cups chicken broth 
• 15 oz. can pumpkin 
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup light cream or half and half 
• sour cream and chives for garnish 

Stirring in the spices after sautéing the onions and garlic

Method: 

1. Melt the butter in a large, heavy bottomed pan
2. Sauté the onion until soft (about two to three minutes)
3. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds to one minute) 
4. Add curry, coriander, salt, black pepper, rosemary, cinnamon and nutmeg and cook for one minute to toast the spices
5. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil

   

   Stirring the chicken stock into the onion/garlic mixture

6. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 20 minutes 
7. Stir in the pumpkin, cream, applesauce and sugar. Bring back to a simmer and cook for an additional five minutes 

   

   Stir in the pumpkin, cream, applesauce and sugar

8. Either use a stick blender and blend well in the pan or allow to cool for ten minutes or so and pour into a blender in small batches and blend until creamy. Combine all batches from blender and stir well

   

   Using a stick blender to combine all the ingredients until smooth

9. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and chopped chives

   

   Ready to eat!