October 24, 2014

This pumpkin soup uses one fresh pumpkin that has been roasted, and some butternut squash (you can roast this too) with onion, butter, stock, and a scoop of sour cream (optional). Healthy and delicious!

butternut pumpkin soup 2

Step 1: Ingredients

– a scoop of butter

– a small bit of olive oil

– 2 yellow onions

– 1 small pumpkin (can be substituted for a can of pumpkin or frozen pumpkin from the grocery store)

– 1 small butternut squash (can be substituted similarly to above)

– 3 cups of vegetable or chicken stock

– a dash or two of salt

– a dash or two of pepper

– a generous scoop of sour cream (optional)

– condiments like croutons for serving

Useful to have: big stock pot, baking sheet, immersion blender or blender or food mill, big sharp knife for cutting pumpkin

pumpkin soup - step 1

Step 2: Roast your pumpkin and squash! (skip step if using canned pumpkin or other method)

I used a small sugar pumpkin that I purchased at Target; it was labeled as a “pie pumpkin” as you would  normally make pies out of them. The smaller pumpkins tend to be a little sweeter (and much easier to cut and clean).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Using a nice sharp knife, do your best to cut the pumpkin down the middle (you may be able to see I wasn’t quite successful at this)

pumpkin soup - step 2

 

pumpkin soup - step 2b

Scoop out the stringy insides and seeds: you can separate out the seeds and roast them, if you like that kind of thing. For a super simple recipe, click here.

pumpkin soup - step 2c

Stick the pumpkin skin side up on a baking sheet. Aluminum foil isn’t necessary, however it makes cleanup easier. Place in oven until tender like a baked potato: took me about 40 minutes.

pumpkin soup - step 2d

Repeat this process with your butternut squash, or cheat by buying the already cubed kind from Market Basket like I did.

Step 3: Prepare your onion.

Clearly chopping your onion won’t fill the void of 40 minutes until your pumpkin is ready, but it will make the prep work easier after it is done.

pumpkin soup - step 3a

Chop your onion in to small pieces, and add it to your stock pot with a dash of olive oil and a scoop of butter. I suppose if you’re the kind of person who needs exact measurements, it is likely 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 of oil. Sautee your onion over low to medium heat until the onions are a little translucent, like shown. If they start browning, turn down the heat on your stove.  Once achieved, remove from heat until your pumpkin/squash is ready.

pumpkin soup - step 3b

 

pumpkin soup - step 3c

Step 4: Combine ingredients

When your pumpkin/squash is done, it should be very tender. I waited a little while for it to cool, and then peeled off the skin from the meat of the pumpkin. This was very easy and reminiscent of a good baked potato. If it is not easy, cook it longer. Put the meat of the pumpkin, meat of the squash, 3 cups of stock, and a dash of salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and cover it until everything is nice and mushy together. This didn’t take very long for me- maybe 10 or 15 minutes.

pumpkin soup - step 4a

 

pumpkin soup - step 4b

Sour cream makes the soup a little creamier and smooths out the taste in my opinion. You could easily use milk or half and half. I happened to have sour cream on hand. I folded in a very large spoonful of it, and ended up adding a little extra salt.

pumpkin soup - step 4c

Step 5: Blend it all together until smooth!

I used an immersion blender to blend everything together smoothly, however if you like the texture you could leave it a little chunky. Additionally, a blender would have worked in a pinch, and a food mill would have been fine too, if harder to clean up.

pumpkin soup - step 5

 

pumpkin soup - finished

 

butternut pumpkin soup

Enjoy! Great toppings include croutons, grated cheese, chutney, fresh bread, chives, or anything else you can think of. I am partial to croutons.

Look for our next pumpkin recipe: no-bake pumpkin cheesecake! Coming soon. (I seem to be very in to pumpkin flavor this fall. I hope you are too!)

Check out easy method for roasting pumpkin seeds here

Or how to make a great party snack: Halloween candy bark!

Published October 24, 2014 | By