Fall Soup Recipe – Spicy Pumpkin Soup
Fall is here! This is the time of year to get to the farmers market, pick up fresh produce and start cooking! Making homemade soup is a great way to enjoy some of what fall has to offer. A steaming pot of soup or stew is welcome autumn fare when the days get busy and the nights start to get chilly
For more Harvest Recipes, look at this Suite101 article!
Soup is one of the oldest dishes people have made. soup is probably as old as the history of cooking. The act of combining various ingredients in a large pot to create a nutritious, filling, easily digested, simple to make/serve food was inevitable. This made it the perfect choice for both sedentary and travelling cultures, rich and poor, healthy people and invalids. Soup (and stews, pottages, porridges, gruels, etc.) evolved according to local ingredients and tastes. New England chowder, Spanish gazpacho, Russian borscht, Italian minestrone, French onion, Chinese won ton and Campbell's tomato...are all variations on the same theme.
Here is a lovely autumnal soup that will allow you to use some of Fall’s Fresh Produce!
Spicy Pumpkin Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- Pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
- 3 (15 oz) cans 100 percent pumpkin or 6 cups of chopped roasted pumpkin*
- 5 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
- 2 cups of milk
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions:
- Melt butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add spices and stir for a minute more.
- Add pumpkin and 5 cups of chicken broth; blend well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Transfer soup, in batches, to a blender or food processor. Cover tightly and blend until smooth. Return soup to saucepan.
- With the soup on low heat, add brown sugar and mix. Slowly add milk while stirring to incorporate. Add cream. Adjust seasonings to taste. If a little too spicy, add more cream to cool it down. You might want to add a teaspoon of salt.
Serve in individual bowls. Sprinkle the top of each with toasted pumpkin seeds.
*To make pumpkin purée, cut a sugar pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a tin-foil lined baking pan. Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Cool, scoop out the flesh. Freeze whatever you don't use for future use.