Pumpkin Soup

Whenever Winter approaches, there are always certain foods for which I suddenly crave. I mean, really crave! Pumpkin soup is definately one of these things. Oatmeal also has a similar effect on me, but I will talk about that some other day). On any cold, dreary day, place a bowl of oatmeal or pumpkin soup in front of me and I am happy. It truly warms me up-makes me feel relaxed- comfortable- satisfied. I like it in all its forms- thick, with visable pumpkin pieces, or even thin like an orange drink-either way-each has its merits.  I tend to always have two or three pumkins hanging around in my kitchen at a time during the cold season. I use it for breads, pastas, and side dishes and it also creates colourful decoration in the kitchen.

I spontaneously invited a friend over for lunch, as I had absolutely no desire to venture out of my warm flat and battle with the cold outside. As I hung up the phone, I went to the kitchen and realised that I hardly had anything to offer-on first site. It was the end of the week and grocery shopping day was the day after. Just as I was about to panic, my eye caught sight of a pumpkin, just sitting happily on my counter-almost smiling at me with its curved ridges (it was placed sideways). Next to the pumkin were a few oranges and this became our lunch:

Pumpkin-Orange Soup

You will need:

1 pumpkin of choice of about 1 Kilo or 2 1/2 pounds ( I used a hokaido)
1 small onion
1 tablespoon of Oliveoil
2 strips of bacon cut up onto small pieces   (or 2 tablespoons of “Speck ” cubes for you guys in Germany)
2 apples, either grated or cut up into pieces (or 1/2 cup of apple juice)
1/2 cup of fresh orange juice
1/2  Cup of Coconut milk ( even Almond mik works really well)
1/2  cup of Chicken broth or a boullion Cube dissolved in a 1/2 cup of water
A pinch of Fenchel seeds
1 teaspoon of powdered ginger
1 teaspoon of Cumin
1 teaspoon of Tumeric (Kurkuma in Germany)
a pinch of salt and pepper to taste

Place the Pumkpin in the oven to soften. I put the pumpkin in for 45 minutes at 180 degrees C.

Once softened, open up the pumpkin, take out the seeds and cut up the pumkpin “meat” into pieces and place into a pot. If you are using a Hokiado pumpkin, you can even use the skin! (Alternatively, you can peel and cut the pumpkin into pieces and place them directly into the pot. This can be time consuming, I find).

While the pumpkin is softening, place oliveoil into the pot and sautee the oinions until they are glossy and tender (it took me about 3 minutes). If you are using bacon, then add your cut up bacon pieces in the pot now and let it cook for about 2 minutes.

Now, add the coconut milk, the stock or the boullion cube mixture, the apple juice and the orange juice into the pot. Add the pumpkin, all of the spices and cook on medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is completely tender.

Place the soup into a large bowl. Then pour about a third of the soup mixture into the blender and puree until completely smooth. Return it to the pot. Then do the same for the remaining soup in the bowl, and return to the pot once blended. I blend the soup in batches, to ensure that everything is blended up completely and smoothly. When I add too much liquid at a time into the blender, then I often end up with either sporadic lumps or a volcanic explosion of liquid coming from an overcrowded belnder!

Once you have returned the soup to the pot, bring the mixture to simmer and add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. I used my homemade pesto and pumpkin seeds to garnish the soup, and served it with toasted Foccaccia, dipped  in pumpkin oil.

If you desire a more thick soup, use less broth, and if you desire a more liquidy-soup-use more.

Enjoy!

and now it is all gone! Seconds anyone?