Dark Days Challenge: Pumpkin Soup

Yes, I'm still behind & back dating posts...

Until recently, I despised pumpkin. When I started focusing on local foods & eating with the seasons, I knew I would have to ahem, expand my palate. Pumpkin was my last hold out.

I finally realized that like tomatoes, my dislike of pumpkin was a texture not a flavor thing. Also, savory is better than sweet.

ROASTED PUMPKIN SOUP
 I tend to play it fast & loose with soup. Whatever is on hand is what goes in and I don't really measure anything. Leeks instead of shallots would be yummy. Half pumpkin, half acorn squash might be good. Spices? A pinch here, a dab of this. Whatever strikes your fancy. Be careful about sugar levels though. Some of the sugar pumpkins are plenty sweet on their own, so season to taste. You can always sweeten it up at the end.
Ingredients   (non-local in italics) 
Sugar pumpkin, 2 smallish
onion
shallot
garlic
olive oil
vegetable and/or chicken stock
heavy cream
maple syrup

nutmeg
cardamom
cumin
saffron
salt & pepper
 
Heat oven to 375.
Cut pumpkins in half and remove seeds & stringy fibers. Slice into quarters (or eighths, depending on size of your gourds), place in baking pan & drizzle generously with olive oil, tossing to coat. Leaving the skins on, slice onion and shallot in half and slice top off of head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, making sure papery bits have enough oil so they won't burn.

Roast until soft & tender (approx 20-30 minutes), then let cool enough to handle.

 Once cooled, scrape flesh from pumpkin pieces. (Roast & scrape extra and refrigerate. Pumpkin gnocchi up next!)

Place half of roasted onion, half of roasted shallot & maybe a tsp of roasted garlic in soup pot. Add the rest of the mashed pumpkin and 3 cups stock, and puree using hand blender. Add a few threads of saffron, if you have it. (Not too much - it's expensive! I'm not sure I could even taste it but it does give the soup a richer color & it makes me feel fancy.) Add a pinch each of cumin & cardamom and few pinches freshly grated nutmeg. Add salt & pepper to taste. Add some of the oil that the vegetable were roasted in.

Heat on medium-low for approx. half hour. Drizzle in a bit of maple syrup (or brown sugar). Taste as you go, adding more roasted onion, shallot or garlic as you see fit and more stock to reach desired consistency. (Man, do I love my immersion blender for stuff like this! It's just a cheapie that I've had forever & it may need replacing soon. I singed the cord on a burner the other day. Anyone have a favorite replacement?) Before serving, add a bit of heavy cream (maybe 1/4c) and stir until heated throughout.

It won't win any beauty contests (yeah, it looks disturbingly like baby food) but it changed my mind about pumpkin. Although I still hate pumpkin pie.