We are so happily settling into our new routine as a family of three. It is hard to believe our little bundle is just 2.5 weeks old. There is, undoubtedly, less time in the day for cooking and the pumpkins felt a little daunting. So I ignored them. Until today.
Laying in bed the other night I thought, "Well this is silly, Lauren, what would Alice do? She undoubtedly has a simple preparation." One quick look at page 277 of Chez Panisse Vegetables and I had just the recipe.
Roasted Pumpkin Soup: 2 hours of total time, but more importantly, only 20 minutes of active cooking time. So simple, and so so so good. My mother and I enjoyed the soup for lunch today, and she actually used the adjective "divine." Enjoy!
Alice Waters' Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients
(from Chez Panisse Vegetables)
- 3 lbs of fresh sugar pumpkin (2 small pumpkins in my CSA)
- 3-5 cups of chicken stock
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 4 cloves of garlic
- Butter
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- 4 slices of bread
- 2 tablespoons butter
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and darker orange pulp
- Rub the cut sides with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper
- Place the pumpkin, cut side down, on a baking sheet, with a sprig of thyme and 2 unpeeled cloves of garlic tucked into each cavity
- Roast for 45 minutes to one hour until completely tender
- Remove from oven, and let cool completely
- Peel off the skin and add the remaining pumpkin to a soup pot along with the roasted garlic, squeezed out of its skin
- Strip the thyme off the stalk, and add to the pot
- Add 3 cups of chicken stock and heat to a simmer
- Alice suggests mashing together with a wire whisk... I blended with an immersion blender until smooth
- Add more chicken stock, if desired, to achieve your preferred consistency
- Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt or pepper as needed
- Optional in the Alice recipe (but not in my kitchen!): add 1 tbs of butter to richen the soup
If you have the ingredients, continue with these black pepper croutons. I served my soup with a dollop of greek yogurt instead but will certainly add this croutons next time:
- Cube the bread into 1/2 inch cubes and toss with the melted butter
- Sprinkle with salt, spread on a baking sheet and roast until brown and crispy
- Generously grind black pepper as you remove from the oven
- Top the soup with the croutons and serve
It's official. You are super woman
ReplyDeleteI got to have some of this as well - delicious!!! Going to try to make myself.
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