This recipe was rather spur of the moment, and not completely mine. I searched and borrowed from about 4 different recipes, and came away with something wonderful.
It had been years since I'd had pumpkin soup. My family and I were on a cruise ship, headed to the Bahamas, and we all fell in love with the pumpkin soup that was served. Even my darling husband, who is the pickiest eater I've ever met.
This really hit the spot for me on a super cold and rainy day.
2TBS butter
1 smallish garlic clove, minced
1/2 TBS onion powder (OR 1 medium yellow onion, chopped. Satuee with 4 TBS of butter)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons curry powder
Pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional; I used 1/4 teaspoon)
1 (15 oz) can of pure pumpkin
2 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1/2 cups of milk/half-n-half/heavy cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Yield: Serves 4.
If you want to make this from scratch, have at it! Normally I'm all about that, but the night I made this, I decided to just use what I had on hand. For a homemade pumpkin purée: cut a pumpkin in half, scoop out the innards (ha! I just love saying 'innards'), put it face down on a foil lined baking sheet. You'll bake it at 350°F until the pumpkin is soft, anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. Let it cool, then scoop out the fleshy stuff.
1. In a Dutch Oven or heavy-bottomed stockpot, add the garlic and/or onions and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add spices and stir for a minute more. (Note: if using onions, you'll want to add more butter at the beginning)
2 Add chicken broth and pumpkin; stir. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
3 If using the fresh onions, you will want to either blend this in batches in a food processor, or an immersion blender, then add back to the pot. Since I'm lazy and didn't, I got to skip this step. Nee ner, nee ner!
4 Add the brown sugar and milk/cream, one at a time, while stirring to blend. Take a taste at this point, and adjust seasonings to your liking. Should it be TOO spicy, just add some more milk/cream and that will take some of the heat out.
I also made cinnamon sugar croutons! Mmmm...
Take a couple slices of whatever bread you've got, I used regular wheat sandwich bread, and spread butter on one side of each slice. Stack, cut into cubes, then transfer to a baking sheet. Mix some cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl and sprinkle over the cubes. Mix together and make sure each piece has some of that goodness on 'em.
Pop the baking sheet in the oven for about 10 minutes or so. I wasn't really paying attention, so mine got a little more brown. Maybe check them at 5 minutes and give 'em a good flip.
