I never went pumpkin picking as a child; and I certainly never had Purée of Pumpkin Soup. By the time I had children, schools were taking whole classes to pumpkin patches. My grandchildren go with school and also with their parents. They always seem to pick the largest pumpkin they can carry to bring me. After admiring it for a few days, I remove the seeds, cut it up in manageable pieces and roast it. Click on the link for exact directions for How To Roast a Pumpkin.The juices ooze out of the pieces and somewhat resorb back into the roasted pumpkin after cooling. At this point, I have a lot of roasted pumpkin. I could use some of it as a vegetable; but I usually purée it all. I give some to my daughter, some to friends and the rest I use for Purée of Pumpkin Soup and Pumpkin Pie.
As with all vegetables, some pumpkins are sweeter than others. When it is a particularly sweet pumpkin, it makes an absolutely delicious and creamy soup without adding any sweetener. I garnish it with toasted coconut flakes and pepitas. What a treat! Should your pumpkin not be so sweet, you can add a little pure maple syrup to give it the sweetness you desire.
Prep time: 60 minutes
Note: You can use pure canned pumpkin purée; but the color won’t be as bright.
Purée of Pumpkin Soup
By Published: October 29, 2017
Yield:
- 10 cups
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large onion peeled , cored and chopped
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 inches Fresh Ginger root peeled and minced (or 2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger)
- 2 4 inch cinnamon sticks or 1 large one
- 4 1/2 cups fresh pumpkin purée
- 4 cups vegetable broth/water
- 1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
- 1 cup pepitas toasted
- 1 cup dried coconut flakes toasted
Equipment
- electric food processor steel knife inserted
- 1 4 quart soup pot
Directions
- To toast coconut flakes and pepitas: Preheat toaster oven to 400° F. Line toaster oven tray with foil. Roast coconut and pepitas separately. Watch carefully. The coconut flakes and pepitas only take about 3 minutes each.
- Pour vegetable oil in soup pot. Heat over medium flame. Add chopped onion. Sprinkle with sea salt and sauté until translucent. Add minced ginger and cinnamon and stir until you can smell them. Add pumpkin purée, vegetable broth/water and coconut milk. Stir over medium flame until all ingredients are well blended. Taste. Add more salt if needed. Let soup cool for about five minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks. Pour a few cups at at a time into your food processor and purée until smooth. Pour purée into another pot and repeat process until all the soup is smooth. Return soup to stove. Adjust heat to a low simmer and stir soup until it is hot. Do not boil!
- To serve: pour pumpkin soup into bowl and garnish with toasted dried coconut flakes and toasted pepitas.
