Week #11 - Spicy Pumpkin Soup

Happy Fall, everybody! I have been really busy so I did not make soup last week. But this week I decided to make a soup that made me think of Fall. I saw a pumpkin soup recipe in a magazine, but I forgot the recipe when I went to the store, so I looked another one up on my phone. I found this one on SimplyRecipes.com.

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

*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.
**If cooking gluten-free, use gluten-free broth.

Method

1 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.
2 Add pumpkin and 5 cups of chicken broth; blend well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
3 Transfer soup, in batches, to a blender or food processor. Cover tightly and blend until smooth. Return soup to saucepan.
4 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.

 I didn't use the toasted pumpkin seeds, but they would have been good. The flavor of this soup was really good, however it wasn't very filling since it was essentially broth. This is the type of soup that would be good to drink out of a mug when you are cold or sick.

Rating: 3.5/5