Recipe for Pumpkin Soup

An unexpected starter for your holiday dinner, this pumpkin soup recipe is sure to be a favorite.

Pumpkin Up Your Meal

Everybody ends their holiday meals with a pumpkin dessert, but pumpkin can start your meal as well. This pumpkin soup recipe adds a little warm spice to your table. I like to add leeks to my soup, but I have had great results with shallots. I even made this once with red onions and it was fantastic. I like to use vegetable stock with this soup so my vegetarian friends can enjoy it, too. If you like, you can use chicken stock.

You will need to peel and seed the pumpkin to properly prepare it for this soup. Then, cut the pumpkin into 1 to 1 1/2 inch square chunks. The actual size isn't as important as the consistency. If all the pumpkin pieces are the same size, they will cook at the same rate. If you have some pieces that are small and some that are large, they will cook at different rates and some will be overcooked while others are underdone. This is important for this recipe because we will be simmering the pumpkin in the stock and won't be able to see how done the pumpkin is.

Pumpkin Soup Recipe

I like to keep the spices simple for this soup but you can add any other spices you like.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of peeled and seeded pumpkin
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 leeks, sliced thinly and cleaned
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Cut the pumpkin into similarly sized cubes.
2. In a large pot, heat the oil.
3. Add the leeks and garlic.
4. Sweat them until the leeks become soft.
5. Add the spices and cook for a minute or two until the spices become fragrant.
6. Add the pumpkin and the vegetable stock.
7. Add salt and pepper.
8. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer.
9. Simmer for 30 minutes.
10. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup and taste for salt and pepper.
11. If you do not have an immersion blender, use your food processor or your standard blender.
12. If you don't have any of these, a potato masher will mush the pumpkin pretty well. Then use a large heavy whisk and whisk the soup until it is smooth.
13. Be sure to taste for seasoning and adjust your spices accordingly.
14. You can get creative with the spices in this pumpkin soup recipe. Try adding a little nutmeg or cinnamon.
15. Top with a little plain yogurt, sour cream or crème fraiche.

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