The Pumpkin Soup Your Mother Warned You About

Well, as I wrote about here, we harvested a  bounty of beautiful pumpkins from the gardens here at The Gables.  I’ve been pondering on what the heck to do with them — many of you offered helpful suggestions — and yesterday I decided I needed to attempt a pumpkin soup.

As stated before, I had some rather awful experiences with pumpkin soups whilst living in New Zealand a few years ago.  So, with that expressed, fully,  I pulled two small pumpkins from the pumpkin pile yesterday and whipped up the deliciosity (not a real word) that is this soup.

I used the ingredients listed in this recipe for cream of pumpkin soup, however, since I roasted and pureed the pulp of my own, home grown pumpkins, I didn’t have an exact pumpkin amount so I really winged the ingredient ratios as I went along — testing by taste to make sure I was on the right track.  The result truly was scrumptious, earthy, sweet and spicy.
Cream of Pumpkin Soup Ingredients:
1 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp butter
2 cans chicken broth
1 can (15oz) pumpkin puree
1tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:
Toss some butter in your sauce pan and saute your chopped onion until it’s relatively soft.  Add chicken broth and pumpkin puree to onions, bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  

Transfer broth mixture to a blender and puree until smooth.

Return mixture to saucepan and add all spices.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  

Stir in heavy whipping cream and fully heat again (but do not boil) to the temperature you’d like to serve it at.

*As usual, I would greatly encourage you to find a beautiful, organically grown, vine ripened pumpkin at your local market to roast and puree yourself.  I’m not sure how this soup will taste if you use the sad little pumpkin bits that come spiritless and corralled in a tin can…

I served this soup to my smokejumpers with a side of spinach salad last night.  This afternoon, while they were out bird hunting, I consumed the leftovers with a small grilled cheese sandwich and a soy latte — so autumnal.  I have been converted into a pumpkin soup passionista.  Officially.  Watch out!  You will be too.

Happy souping.
xx

Comments

  1. thebearaffair says

    I was looking for a good soup recipe for supper tonight and think I will give this beauty a try – thanks so much for sharing. XXOO Sal

  2. Michaela Dawn says

    When are you having me over for dinner?

    I would GLADLY go non vegan for a day for this type of fare:)

    xo

  3. Glad to hear your pumpkin soup was a success….i like pumpkin in general….there used to be a local bakery that baked pumpkin muffins with raisons….with a sugary topping….they were wonderful…but they went out of business many years ago. 🙁

  4. Great I just ate and now I am wanting to eat again! Looks really good. I also have many pumpkins that will be hacked up for this gem.

  5. Miss Crowland says

    You are truly the most adorable person on the planet.

  6. Jaime/Bella-Bijou Jewellery says

    I've recently been on the make your own soup recipe and have fallen in love with a curried butternut squash soup I concocted. I will have to try this recipe too – its come at the perfect time!

  7. Ugh! The pumpkin soup in NZ was the WORST! Your recipe sounds fantastic though…I must give it a go! Hope you are doing well!!

  8. i'm feeling like this would be very good with coconut milk substituted for the cream for those of us not consuming dairy (by choice or by need)…i've gotta try it!!!

    btw i made a really good curried carrot soup this spring and used coconut milk to cream it – worked very very well, and froze dreamily too!!

  9. Jillian,

    What are the steps to roasting and pureeing your own pumpkin? This recipe looks heavenly!

  10. Good day Mrs Smokejumper! i love making pumpkin soup! You really can't mess it up. I like to cook it with butternut squash, I like to add lentils to it…I say experiment! Maybe add a side of elk or deer sausages??

    Last night I made a Portugese Stew which consists of pork and sweet potatoes with a hot paprika and red wine base..reaallllyyy good! Sure to please a group of smokin' hot men. hee hee

  11. Oh, and I have curried my pumpkin soup too..if you are a fan of curry. they pair together really well!

    j.

  12. The Noisy Plume: says

    Sal: OH! THis is a good one!!!!! You should totally try it. Is it cooling down in Arizona yet?

    Mac: Anytime!!! You're welcome here anytime! xx

    Dala: Sad to hear you lost your pumpkiny bakery. That's sad, indeed. I'm going to do some more experimenting with my pumpkin yield over the next few weeks. I'm ready to love this veggie. x

    Kathleen: !!! I'm glad to hear it! You won't regret it:) x

    Miss Crowland: Well! Thank you! 🙂 x

    Jaime: Oh good grief. Curried butternut squash soup is one of my FAVORITES. RW and I have very different taste in soup. I prefer the squash, potato and pumpkin varieties while he likes heartier things like stews and antelope/elk (substituted for beef) soups. Sigh. 🙂 Good on you for experimenting in the kitchen!!!

    Nini: AH HA!!!! Thank you for testifying to the heinousness that was THAT SOUP!!!!! Nightmarish. I promise. This soup is from a different world. We are VERY well here:) Thank you for asking!

    Jordan: Ooh! Nice twist! I bet it would be great! Buttermilk might add some tang to it, as well, for those who can have the dairy still. I'm all for the dairy substitutes — they can make things taste a little more exotic. x

    Beans: Well. I cut my pumpkins in half, scoop the seeds out, pop them in the oven on a cookie sheet and let them bake for a while at 350F. When the pumpkin pulp is soft I pull the halves form the oven and scoop all that good stuff out of the pumpkin rind/skin. Then I simply pop it in my blender. If you have one of those upright hand blenders/mixers (I'm not sure what they're called) that would work as well, I'm sure…you can use puree like this in pies, muffins, any recipe you want to add pumpkin to. Thanks for asking!!! x

  13. The Noisy Plume: says

    Sal: OH! THis is a good one!!!!! You should totally try it. Is it cooling down in Arizona yet?

    Mac: Anytime!!! You're welcome here anytime! xx

    Dala: Sad to hear you lost your pumpkiny bakery. That's sad, indeed. I'm going to do some more experimenting with my pumpkin yield over the next few weeks. I'm ready to love this veggie. x

    Kathleen: !!! I'm glad to hear it! You won't regret it:) x

    Miss Crowland: Well! Thank you! 🙂 x

    Jaime: Oh good grief. Curried butternut squash soup is one of my FAVORITES. RW and I have very different taste in soup. I prefer the squash, potato and pumpkin varieties while he likes heartier things like stews and antelope/elk (substituted for beef) soups. Sigh. 🙂 Good on you for experimenting in the kitchen!!!

    Nini: AH HA!!!! Thank you for testifying to the heinousness that was THAT SOUP!!!!! Nightmarish. I promise. This soup is from a different world. We are VERY well here:) Thank you for asking!

  14. The Noisy Plume: says

    Jordan: Ooh! Nice twist! I bet it would be great! Buttermilk might add some tang to it, as well, for those who can have the dairy still. I'm all for the dairy substitutes — they can make things taste a little more exotic. x

    Beans: Well. I cut my pumpkins in half, scoop the seeds out, pop them in the oven on a cookie sheet and let them bake for a while at 350F. When the pumpkin pulp is soft I pull the halves form the oven and scoop all that good stuff out of the pumpkin rind/skin. Then I simply pop it in my blender. If you have one of those upright hand blenders/mixers (I'm not sure what they're called) that would work as well, I'm sure…you can use puree like this in pies, muffins, any recipe you want to add pumpkin to. Thanks for asking!!! x

  15. Love, love your blog–a visual and soulful delight!

    Alas…as a Kiwi having grown up and thrived on many a bowl of delicious homemade pumpkin soup, I fear people may now think all New Zealanders are bumpkin pumpkin eaters with nary a clue as to what to do with these rotund gourds! =D

    If only you had had dinner at our house…Mum's crusty homemade bread dunked in heavy bowls of thick, golden pumpkin soup…followed by lemon cheesecake slice…or warm apple shortcake…

    (…I really miss my mummy!)

  16. The Noisy Plume: says

    PRAISE GOD FOR YOUR MUM'S PUMPKIN SOUP!!!! I must inform you of the fact that the individual who made the awful pumpkin soup that I was forced to eat over, and over and OVER again (while living in your fair country) was actually Canadian!!!(??????) Actually, she might have been American…I can't recollect now. But she was not a New Zealander — this much is for certain.

    You Kiwis know JUST what to do with a squash. I do hope that next time RW and I are in NZ, we will find our way to your mum's house and a vat of soulful pumpkin soup and a closet of pavlovas!!! This is officially my daily prayer.

    And for the record…I miss my mum too. x

  17. Ann from Montana says

    I love pumpkin and squash in general lots of things! – In the last week I've made 2 batches of pumpkin cornbread…one batch with green chile and a little extra cinnamon. (great gluten free!)

    I am now wanting to try Jordan's coconut milk substitution as well.

    Thanks for the recipe and all of the other ideas as well :)!

  18. Ah, well…there you go, then. Kiwi culinary skills remain intact! =)

    Where would we be without our mummies, I ask you?! It's been nearly four years since my last visit home (yikes), just your everyday lifeus interruptus, but am determined to make a trip home next year, even if I have to paddle over in a hand-dug canoe! Mum was regaling me with the menu for last night's small dinner party she was having. I think I shed a tear…

    The next time you are in NZ, be sure to check out the tiny little town of Raglan, on the wild west coast of the North Island, less than an hour west of Hamilton. The beaches are gorgeous, the townsfolk delightfully eclectic and eccentric. Lots of artists and artisans. My ma and pa live in a little cabin on some property overlooking the sea. Quite magical.

  19. Mum's pavlova comes second only to her lemon meringue pie…oh, and maybe her trifle (which is nothing like the disgusting soggy trifles we/many grew up with as kids)!

  20. The Noisy Plume: says

    Ann!!!!: Pumpkin cornbread!!!!! SO DELICIOUS SOUNDING!!!! Thank you for the notion! xx

    Ash: Funny you should mention Raglan — it was my "home beach" when I lived in NZ. What a beautiful little town is there. RW and I were attending school at a tiny little international Bible college just outside of the town of Cambridge in 2001…perhaps we unknowingly rubbed shoulders while prancing about your home town?!!! And TRIFLE!!! You speak directly to my dessert loving soul. xx

  21. Oh, how neat, Jillian. Such a small world, after all!

    Ma and Pa are currently soaking up lots of sun this Labour Day weekend, after one of the wettest winters in at least 50 years. In fact, I think all of New Zealand is currently wringing themselves out!

    I used to shudder at the thought of trifle when I was a kid. Those huge glass bowls that would turn up on heavy-laden picnic tables at BBQs, sponge cake turned to slush under a mountain of canned fruit and whipped cream…gak!

    Mum's recipe: ginormous bowl lined with generous slices of raspberry sponge roll, covered with layers of thick homemade custard (with a splash or three of liquor), whipped cream, more sponge roll and slices of baked fresh peaches, topped with more cream and chips of homemade toffee! (Even better the next day for breakfast!)

  22. i second ann's vote for pumpkin cornbread – my fave recipe:
    http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/12/pumpkin-corn-muffins.html

    REAALLLY good with hot soup or as a sidekick with chili. and they freeze really well too!