Pumpkin Soup!

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Happy November everybody! We are kicking off the month with 7 days of pumpkin, starting out with this delicious and super easy pumpkin soup. My sister and I are the ONLY people in our family who absolutely love #ALLThingsPumpkin. We were on face time yesterday and I was sharing with her how I made a pumpkin soup. She then suggested that I do 7 days of pumpkin to spice up the blog, and well here we are! We both love pumpkin cakes, pies, breads you name it! If it's pumpkin we are eating or drinking it. I never realized how easy it was to cook with actual pumpkins until I made this soup.

There is nothing wrong with using canned pumpkin, but since I became a chef I have transitioned to making everything using fresh ingredients and from scratch. But don't worry, for those who just want to be really good cooks at home and aren't trying to be America"s next #TopChef, a few of my pumpkin recipes will have you covered.

Back to the soup, you literally cut the pumpkins up, gut them, then roast them in the oven until they get tender, thats IT!. From there how you decide to season them sweet or savory is entirely up to you. Let's get straight to it!

Ingredients: 

2 sugar pumpkins

2 cups chicken broth/stock

1 minced shallot

1 TBS Roasted garlic

2 TBS EVOO 

1/2 cup cream

1/3 cup coconut milk 

1/2  cup (1 stick) butter 

1 TBS Black pepper

2 TBS salt + more to your liking

1 TBS garlic powder

1 TBS onion powder 

*Roasted pumpkin seeds for garnish*

Instructions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350

2.) Line cookie sheet with foil 

3.) Cut the tops off the pumpkins, then cut them in half

4.) Scrape out the guts (gooey middle + seeds)  

*NOTE you can save the seeds and roast them later if you don’t want to throw them away*

4.) Drizzle and brush a decent amount of olive oil on all 4 halves, about 1/2 cup total 

5.) Add salt/ pepper to each half 

6.) Place halved pumpkins skin side up and roast in the oven for 45-50 minutes *NOTE you should smell the pumpkins as they are almost done and be able to pierce the skin with a fork*

7.) Remove pumpkins from oven and let them cool for 10 mins 

8.) While pumpkins are cooling, heat a sauce pot and add 2 TBS olive oil 

9.) Add the minced shallots and roasted garlic, then add the butter and 1 cup of the chicken stock and stir

10.) Peel the skin off the pumpkins and scoop the pumpkin flesh into the sauce pot

11.) With a potato masher, smash down the pumpkin flesh into the shallot/garlic/broth mixture

*SHOULD LOOK LIKE PURÉE AT THIS STAGE*

12.) Add seasonings, cream, and 2nd cup of chicken broth and stir 

13.) Next pour entire pot into blender and blend for 3-4 mins 

14.) Transfer blended soup back to sauce pan or Dutch oven along with butter, a pinch more salt, and the coconut milk, then stir

15.) Cover and cook on low for 7 minutes

16.) Remove from heat, top with pumpkin seeds, serve and eat 

I promise you this soup is super easy and always remember to use my recipes as guides and starting points and then venture off on your own, you can do it! The left over soup can be used for sauces if you are as obsessed with pumpkin as much as I am, or you can be a fatty like me and just eat the whole damn pot. Either way, the shit is good luv, enjoy! Until next time ...

With Love & Food,

-Chef Morghan