My Favorite Pumpkin Soup

I love love love this savory pumpkin soup! The original is by Heston Blumenthal, but I got it by way of a friends blog mojadelicja.pl. I stray a bit from the recipe, just to make life easier. You can use any kind of pumpkin here, or even orange fleshed squashes like butternut squash. The original has you roast half of the pumpkin and slice and pan fry the other half. I found slicing pumpkin just about impossible, even with a mandalyn, not to mention peeling it, so I just roast the whole thing. I did not notice any change in the flavor, and it’s way easier this way. The recipe also calls for balsamic vinegar, which when added, changes the soup color from a beautiful orange to kind of brown. To remedy this issue you can either use white balsamic, which can be difficult to find, or add a teaspoon of turmeric at the end to boost the orange color. You may be tempted to use low fat milk instead of whole milk — don’t! The saved calories are not worth the lost flavor, trust me. My last bit of advice for this soup is to buy an immersion blender. It will make life so much easier. If you really don’t want to, you can puree it in batches, but I find that to be a pain. This is a fall favorite for my family, and I’m sure your family will love it too!

INGREDIENTS makes 12 servings

1 small pumpkin (about 2 – 3 lbs, or 1.7 lbs (800g) of pumpkin flesh)

canola oil spray

1 3/4 cups whole milk

4 + 1/2 sprigs rosemary, divided

3 small onions (preferably white), sliced

2 sticks unsalted butter (250 g), divided

2.5 cups water or vegetable broth

pinch cayenne (or to taste)

2 Tbs balsamic vinegar, preferably white if you can find it

2 Tbs toasted sesame oil

salt to taste

1 tsp turmeric (optional)

1/4 cup hazel nuts

1/4 cup bread crumbs

2 roasted red peppers, pickled or fresh, diced

1/2 cup shelled salted pumpkin seeds

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1 small pumpkin (about 2 – 3 lbs, or 1.7 lbs (800g) of pumpkin flesh)
• canola oil spray

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cut your pumpkin in half, then seed it. Spray the inside of both halves with canola oil spray, and place skin side down on a baking sheet. Bake the pumpkin halves 30 – 45 min until they are tender when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, remove all of the flesh from the skin and set aside.

• 1 3/4 cups whole milk
• 4 sprigs rosemary, divided

2. Scald the milk (bring to just about boiling) in a small sauce pan, remove from heat, and add in 4 rosemary sprigs. Let the milk infuse with the rosemary sprigs for 20 min.

• 3 small onions (preferably white), sliced
• 1.5 sticks unsalted butter (200 g)

3.  In a large pot, melt 1.5 sticks of butter. Add the sliced onions and cook on medium-low for about 10 min, until the onion is translucent.

• 2.5 cups water or vegetable broth
• rosemary infused milk
• roasted pumpkin flesh

4.  Add the water or broth, the milk, and roasted pumpkin flesh to your cooked onions. Cook on medium another 10 min. Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender, or let cool and puree in batches in a regular blender or food processor then return to the pot. If you want to be fancy you can strain the soup after pureeing, to ensure a velvety texture, but I find this unnecessary.

• pinch cayenne, or to taste
• 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar (preferably white if you can find it), or more to taste
• 2 Tbs toasted sesame oil, or more to taste
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp turmeric (optional)

5.  Season the soup with a pinch of cayenne, the balsamic vinegar and sesame oil. Salt to taste if necessary. If you’re unhappy with the color of the soup after adding the balsamic vinegar (it using regular dark brown balsamic it can change the soup color to brownish), add in 1 tsp of turmeric to boost up that orange color.

• 1/4 cup hazelnuts, crushed
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 sprig rosemary

6.  In a food processor, blend together the bread crumbs, hazel nuts, and 1/2 sprig of rosemary, until the consistency is that of bread crumbs or a crumble. It’s best to do this in pulses so that you don’t accidentally make hazelnut butter. This will be used as a crumble for serving with the soup.

• 1/2 stick butter
• 2 roasted red peppers, pickled or fresh, diced
• 1/2 cup shelled salted pumpkin seeds

7.  Fancy way to serve the soup: brown the butter in a small sauce pan. Brush the browned butter onto the inside of your serving soup bowls. Sprinkle the hazelnut crumble onto the inside of the bowl, tilting it so that the crumble sticks to the places painted with the browned butter. Arrange about 1 Tbs of the diced roasted red pepper and pumpkin seeds at the bottom of the bowl. Pour the hot soup into the bowl table side.

Less fancy way to serve the soup: Instead of browning the butter, just butter the inside of the soup bowls like you would a baking pan. Sprinkle the hazelnut crumble onto the inside of the bowl, tilting it so that the crumble sticks to the buttered places. Arrange about 1 Tbs of the diced roasted red pepper and pumpkin seeds at the bottom of the bowl. Pour the hot soup into the bowl table side. This is how I tend to do it.

Lazy way to serve the soup: Arrange about 1 tbs of the diced roasted red pepper and pumpkin seeds at the bottom of the bowl. Pour the soup over the red pepper and pumpkin seeds, then sprinkle on top with the crumble.