Pumpkin Soup
The trend of pumpkin everything is loud this fall. From your latte at Starbucks to pumpkin spice EVERYTHING at Trader Joe’s, we will happily jump on board for this magical and beautiful month of October.
With the change of season, homemade soup is one of our weekly go-to meals. From hearty chicken-kale to turkey chili, I decided to add in a pumpkin soup to the arsenal. While I have tried a bunch over the years, I think I found one that is my new fave. As with most recipes, I modify them and tweak them a bit with different spices or flavors.
Here is a simple and easy Pumpkin Soup recipe that will be fun for the whole family and made from an actual pumpkin instead of puree.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
One 4-pound sugar pie pumpkin
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 large or 6 medium garlic cloves, pressed or minced
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon cloves
A dash of cayenne pepper (optional, if you like spice)
4 cups of chicken or veggie broth
½ cup full fat coconut milk or heavy cream
2 tablespoons honey
Step 1:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup. Carefully halve the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds
Step 2:
Remove the skin and cube the pumpkin. Toss 1 tablespoon olive oil over pumpkin and roast for 35 minutes or longer. Set it aside to cool for a few minutes.
Step 3:
Heat the remaining 3 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. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Step 4:
Add the pumpkin flesh, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cayenne pepper (if you want it spicy), and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper. Pour in the broth and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, to give the flavors time to meld.
Step 5:
While the soup is cooking, toast the pepitas in a medium skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, golden and making little popping noises. You want them to be nice and toasty, but not burnt. Transfer pepitas to a bowl to cool.
Step 6:
Once the soup is done cooking, stir in the coconut milk and maple syrup. Remove from heat and let it cool slightly. You can use an immersion blender to blend this soup in the pot. I prefer to use my stand blender, which makes the best results—working in batches, transfer the contents of the pan to a blender to blend it in batches. Transfer the puréed soup to a serving bowl and repeat with the remaining batches.
Step 7:
Taste and adjust if necessary (I thought the soup was just right as is, but you might want to add more coconut milk for extra creaminess/milder flavor, or maple syrup to make it a little sweeter).
Ladle the soup into individual pumpkin bowls and garnish with roasted seeds or sage! The bonus is that we get to give all of the pumpkin scraps to Betsy the goat and the chickens next door!
