It had been a rather decadent holiday season around our house. I think the rough year that was 2009 was the catalyst for a lot of comfort food, diet breaking and alcohol consumption. I know it was around here.
So, as we started the new year I was trying to feed my family (and myself) a little bit healthier, a little bit diet consciously. With that in mind, today I decided to try pumpkin soup. Not having ever eaten it before, I really didn’t know what I was going for.
I read a ton of pumpkin soup recipes, from the extremely vegan, health conscious, to one that seemed conspicuously like pumpkin cheesecake. I opted to try mostly healthy, with a small splash of decadent.
This was really good. More subtle than a lot of the things I usually make, but the spice builds as you eat it and I found it to be very satisfying. My son thought it was OK, my daughter ate three bowls and wants me to make it again.
Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients
- • 2 cans of pumpkin (not filling, just pumpkin)
- • 1 med. onion chopped
- • 2 cloves garlic minced
- red pepper flakes (when all was said and done, I used
- three healthy pinches – use to taste)
- • 1/8 t. cayenne pepper (approximate – again to taste)
- • 1/2 t. ginger
- • 1/2 t. cinnamon
- • 3 T. extra virgin olive oil
- • 32 oz. vegetable broth
- • 1/4 t. salt
- • 1/2 t. black pepper (I did about 7 grinds)
- • Half and Half or cream
Instructions
- Heat the oil on medium high in a heavy bottomed, large pot.
- Add the onion and garlic and sauté until glossy and slightly softened. Add the cayenne, ginger, cinnamon and theredpepperflakeandsautéforaminuteortwo.
- Add the pumpkin and stir.
- When the onion, garlic, spices and pumpkin are combined add the vegetable broth and stir until it’s a uniform consistency. Bring it to a boil then turn it down and let it simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes.
- At this point, taste it and adjust the seasonings to your liking.
- Using an immersion blender (or your blender, but be careful and do it in small batches), puree the soup.
- Raise the heat and bring to the temperature you’d like (I like it warm, but not too hot), ladle into a bowl and add about a teaspoon of cream. Stir and eat.