Creamy Pumpkin Soup

Recipe by The Honey Blonde

I will admit that I am relatively inexperienced when it comes to cooking with pumpkin. Sure, I can bake with pumpkin that comes out of a can, but something about that chubby little gourd intimidates me a bit. Maybe because I think of it more as a decoration than a vegetable. But really, it's not any different than some of my other favorite Fall vegetables, like butternut, spaghetti, and acorn squash. Which is why I decided to stretch myself a bit and try making some savory pumpkin foods instead of staying in my comfort zone of sweet pumpkin foods. The first recipe I decided to tackle is a pumpkin soup. I figured I could adapt my favorite butternut squash soup recipe pretty easily to work with pumpkin. (I'm really breaking outside that comfort zone, guys. Watch out!) I started by peeling and chopping up 1 medium sized pie pumpkin. Then I roasted the pumpkin in the oven for about 20 minutes until it was tender. And just a quick reminder, you don't want to use a pumpkin that you find outside the super market waiting to be carved. You want to use a pie pumpkin, which is much smaller and can be found with your other Fall squash in the produce section. Once the pumpkin is nice and roasted, I add it to a pot with sauteed onions, garlic, shallot, stock, milk, and spices. Once all the flavors are all melded together, I transferred the soup to a blender to blend until smooth. You could also use an immersion blender for this task, but if you do use a blender or food processor, make sure to it doesn't splatter all over the place. I like to serve this with a few pepitas on top and a dash of cinnamon. I didn't want this soup to taste like pumpkin pie, but cinnamon and pumpkin just go so well together! You could also drizzle in some truffle oil (truffles are good on everything) or spoon in some sour cream to make this extra creamy. But this soup is great on it's own and the perfect lunch or dinner for a crisp Fall day. PIN NOW, MAKE LATER

Ingredients

• 1 medium sized pie pumpkin
• 2 tbsp olive oil ((divided))
• ½ onion (chopped)
• 1 shallot (minced)
• 1 clove garlic (minced)
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• ½ cup whole milk
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment or aluminum foil.
2. Using a paring knife, peel the skin off the pumpkin then cut in half and remove the seeds with a spoon. Chop pumpkin into large chunks. Toss in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Layer the pumpkin on the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, until pumpkin is soft and slightly caramelized.
3. Place a stock pot over medium high heat. Drizzle in 1 tbsp of olive oil and saute onion, scallion, and garlic until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
4. Add pumpkin, stock, milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper then bring to a boil. Let simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Remove soup from heat and let cool for about 10 minutes. Pour into a blender and blend until smooth.

View the recipe instructions at The Honey Blonde