Happy Friday! Yesterday I shared a fall table setting and my centerpiece for the table was the prettiest little pumpkin casserole from Martha Stewart. (Pumpkin Casserole is currently on sale here: Martha Stewart Pumpkin Casserole)
The pumpkin casserole came with a yummy recipe for Roasted Pumpkin Soup. This soup was very easy to make, the trickiest part was cutting apart the sugar pumpkins. Those babies are hard! Peeling and cutting up the pumpkin was a breeze once I had my pumpkin cut apart. By the way, you don’t want to use regular ole pumpkin for cooking like this. It just isn’t the same as the sugar pumpkins in flavor.
The recipe suggests garnishing the soup with some of the left over cream. I think I could use some practice at the art of cream garnishing. lol Does it look okay? Any tips on how to drizzle cream in an artful fashion? 🙂
To make this roasted pumpkin soup, these are the ingredients you’ll need.
Ingredients:
2-1/2 pounds sugar pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 garlic cloves, peeled
4 sprigs thyme
4 sage leaves
Olive oil (enough to coat pumpkin)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
3 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium vegetable stock, add more as needed
1/2 cup heavy cream, plus more for serving
5 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Roasted pumpkin seeds or butternut squash seeds for serving (optional)
I took this photo below, then realized later I had forgotten to get out the thyme. Arrggg.
When I was in the market buying my sugar pumpkins, I weighed them and one seemed to be enough, but since I wasn’t sure how many I’d need once they were cut up, I went ahead and purchased two.
In the end, one good size sugar pumpkin was enough. I had a good bit of roasted pumpkin left over and enjoyed eating it right off the cookie sheet. lol It smelled so good cooking, I was pretty happy about having some left over!
The milk bottle contains the heavy cream and that’s olive oil in the decorative bottle on the right. I picked up the olive oil bottle in the same little shop where I bought the pitcher I blogged about recently in this post: Bringing Home a Bit of Tuscany to My Kitchen
The small bowls down front are filled with pumpkin seeds and fresh parmesan cheese.
After slicing apart the sugar pumpkin, I used a potato peeler to peel the pumpkin. Next I cut up the pieces into small 1-inch size pieces.
I spread the pumpkin out over an aluminum foil covered baking sheet and drizzled olive oil all over the pieces.
Then I cut/chopped up the onion and garlic into small pieces and sprinkled those, along with the herbs and pepper, all over the pumpkin. I left off the salt because I’m not a big salt fan, but if you like salt, this would be time to sprinkle it, too.
Finally, I tossed everything all together on the baking sheet, making sure to get all the pumpkin pieces lightly coated with the olive oil and other ingredients.
I popped the pan into my preheated oven and roasted the pumpkin for about 45 minutes, turning over the pumpkin pieces with a spatula about half way through the cooking time. Here’s how it looked once done. I was so surprised by how good roasted pumpkin tastes cooked this way!
Next I blended the pumpkin, vegetable stock and cream together, adding a bit more stock since the mixture was pretty thick. I think I may have used a bit more than 2-1/2 lbs of pumpkin.
After everything was all blended, I poured the mixture into my pumpkin casserole and brought it to a low simmer over medium heat. I used one of my new Olive tree wood spoons to occasionally stir as it simmered. Have you ever noticed how much fun it is cooking with new dishware? New recipe, new pot, new spoon, I was in cooking heaven making this! lol
After the soup was simmering nicely, I added in the fresh parmesan cheese, whisking it into the rich mixture. I also ended up adding a bit more stock and a touch more cream. If you weigh your cut-up pumpkin pieces on a kitchen scale, you may not need to do this, but since I’m pretty sure I used more pumpkin than I needed, I did need to add a little more stock and cream.
When the soup was almost ready, I sprinkled some of the pumpkin seeds on a cookie sheet and toasted them in the oven, keeping a constant watch on them. If you’ve ever toasted pumpkin seeds or any other kind of seed, you know they can go from untoasted to burnt in no time flat! lol So just keep an eye on them.
When my soup was ready, I sprinkled a few of my roasted pumpkin seeds across the top. I just love how that looks! If your dinner guests like cream, you could also drizzle a bit of cream atop your soup in the pumpkin dish, of course, before adding the seeds.
After dishing up the soup into acorn tureens, I drizzled a bit of cream on top and sprinkled on more of the roasted pumpkin seeds. This is such a feel-good, hearty soup…a real comfort food for chilly fall or winter days. We don’t have the cold temps right now but we have plenty of drizzly, yucky rain, so this was perfect.
Oh, the recipe states that it makes two servings–I got closer to 3-4 servings out of it, but it may be because I used more pumpkin, as well as more stock and cream.
Here’s a printable version of the recipe below. Enjoy!
Roasted Pumpkin Soup For Fall Dinners
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 pounds sugar pumpkin peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 onion peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 garlic cloves peeled
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 4 sage leaves
- Olive oil enough to coat pumpkin pieces
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
- 3 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium vegetable stock add more as needed
- 1/2 cup heavy cream plus more for serving
- 5 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Roasted Pumkin seeds or butternut squash seed for serving optional
Instructions
- Preheat over to 450 degrees.
- Combine pumpkin, onion, garlic and herbs on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Toss to coat pumpkin, then, (tossing vegetables halfway through) until pumpkin in slightly caramelized and very tender when pierced with tip of sharp knife.
- Discard any woody stems from the herbs, leaving the leaves.
- Transfer vegetables to a blender.
- Add stock and cream.
- Blend until smooth, adding more stock if necessary to achieve desired consistency.
- Transfer to pumpkin enamel cast iron pot.
- Bring to a slight simmer over medium heat.
- Add cheese and whisk until smooth.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve, garnished with heavy cream and roasted pumpkin seeds, if desired.
Soups often are even better the second day, and I say yeah, this looks even more scrumcious than yesterday. You didn’t mention yet how it tasted 😉
They are! I guess all those flavors get blended together. It’s yummy! I love the flavor. It reminds me of a butternut squash soup I sometimes make. I wonder if pumpkin are in the squash family…off to google to see.
Aaaagh! So hungry for these soups. We have 80’s here today, so we are enjoying our last pre-dinner Sangria for the year. But this weekend, it’s soup time!
Yep, it’s a squash, just in case you were wondering. lol Good ole Wikipedia says, “A pumpkin is a cultivar of a squash plant, most commonly of Cucurbita pepo, that is round, with smooth, slightly ribbed skin, and deep yellow to orange coloration.”
OK, so what time is lunch? I think I can get there by noon tomorrow!!! Oh, no, I have a Christmas card class. Drats!!! Guess I will just have to make this myself. This recipe sounds pretty easy and yummy! Thanks.
Make it for your class! They will love it! lol
Honestly, now, THAT IS the WAY to enjoy pumpkin!! Unfortunately, I’m not a pumpkin pie fan. Your explanation and presentation were…sensational!! franki
Thanks, Franki!
Susan, this looks and sounds so delicious, I know I could eat a bowl (or acorn full 😉 ) right now. Yum!
I really like your matching olive oil jar. That and the utensil holder really add that touch of Tuscany and are a pretty, yet practical reminder of your trip. I bet it WAS fun, using all your new things. Those olive wood utensils are so pretty.
I also wanted to say how much I appreciate your thoroughness when posting recipes and dyi projects. Thank you! Love all the detailed info and instructions and the big pictures are delightful.
It’s still overcast and drizzly here, too. I just may have to make the pumpkin soup this weekend! I wish it were a little chillier though. *runs before you hit me* 😛
Have never tried pumpkin as soup but we will see. Have a great weekend.
Your table is so beautifully decorated and the pumpkin soup looks delicious!
Goodle how to make patterns on coffee, or coffee latte art. There are youtube videos even! JW
That soup looks delicious! I ordered my Pumpkin Pot (Thanks for the sale update) and can’t wait to try this soup.
Charlotte, I have mine sitting out on my stove. It’s so pretty, I didn’t want to put it away. I think I’ll keep it out at least until Christmas.
Well, now I’m going to make pumpkin soup. From yesterday’s post, I’ve been using the same butternut squash soup recipe, and it’s really good. I’ve also made a variation without the sage, but adding a little curry powder to give it a different flavor. Both versions have been hits. I was thinking, maybe you could microwave the pumpkins a couple of minutes to soften them up and make them easier to cut like you can do with the butternut squash.
Anyway, great post. I’m going to be hunting for pumpkins tonight.
That’s a good idea, I may just try that next time. Thanks, Anna!
I forgot when I posted, it’s easier to use an immersion blender if you have one rather than dealing with putting batches in a regular one.
I actually have one of those but didn’t think about using it. Duh! lol I’ll have to remember next time. It all just barely fit in my regular blender.
What a beautiful table setting for the fall!! The soup looks delicious!
Susan, I must give this a try. May I suggest a squeeze bottle for the cream. I am not the best at it, but a squeeze bottle will give you a little more control and a wooden skewer to swirl. Also, I like to use plain yogurt for a few less calories and some adobo sauce mixed in for a little kick. But, I have to say, I know of no one that would not be happy at your table. Yum!!!
That looks delish! I think you could squeeze bottle it with circles like a target, then draw from the center out, around the circle, to make a cute cobweb!
You can’t beat pumpkin soup no matter the variation. Your tables have to make all your food taste better!
Oh, looks soooooo yummy!! Bet it smells good too! I see your new olive oil jar, so pretty and colorful…beautiful memories for you….
A little while ago I purchased a large pottery salad bowl at TJMaxx, a creamy beige color with Italian writing in the background and a lovely scene of Tuscan villas, certainly not as colorful as your pieces, but I still like it. It is also made in Italy, did not really look at the name on the back, maybe soon someone will have pieces from your collection. Always on the look out!!!
Cleo, you were smart…that’s a lot easier way to collect a treasure from Italy than hauling it all the way back. lol These days we can get things right here that are probably the same as what you find in the majority of the shops in Italy.
Just a quick note that we had our first homemade soup of the season, but it was butternut, not pumpkin. However, my personal chef (husband) took your tip and roasted the squash–and shallots– first. So much heartier! Thanks much. 😉
Awesome! We have Martha Stewart to thank for that. 🙂