Uptown Westerville Farmers' Market: Recipe - Simple Pumpkin Soup

Simple Pumpkin Soup

from Chef John Skaggs of Two Caterers

1/2 cup onion
3 tbsp butter
2 cups mashed cooked pumpkin (a "young" pumpkin is best)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground pepper
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup half & half

1) Chop the onions and gently brown with butter in pan.

2) Put mashed pumpkin with onions in pan. Add the salt, sugar, nutmeg and pepper.

3) Slowly add chicken broth and half & half. Heat thoroughly, but do not boil.There are a couple of ways to make uncooked pumpkin into puree:

Baking:
Cut the pumpkin in half and discard the stem section and stringy puip. Save the seeds to dry and roast. In a shallow baking dish, place the two halves face down and cover with foil. Bake in a preheated 375° oven for about 1.5 hours for a medium-sized sugar pumpkin, or until tender. Once the baked pumpkin has cooled, scoop out the flesh and puree or mash. For silky smooth custards or soup, press the pumpkin puree through a sieve.

Boiling:
Cut the pumpkin in half and discard the stem section and stringy puip. Save the seeds to dry and roast. Peel the pumpkin and cut into chunks. Place in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until the pumpkin chunks are tender. Let the chunks cool, and then puree the flesh in a food processor or mash it with a potato masher or food mill.

For more recipes, check out the market wednesday recipe page.

©2010 Two Caterers. All Rights Reserved.