Roasted Pumpkin and Vegetable Soup

This is an aromatic soup that suits my tastes at this time of the year. It has both the flavours of Roasted Pumpkin and Vegetables. Fall is well underway and there is snow on the ground where I live. A warming, seasonally spiced Pumpkin Soup is right up my alley. I made a custom soup broth for this recipe, but if you aren't up to making your own broth, I've made notes on the additional ingredients to add if you are using store bought.

There are couple of steps to this recipe which you can do on the same day you make it, or simply stretch out the time and make it over three days. You can make a soup stock 2 days ahead and roast your vegetables the day before, or vice versa. Doing everything on the same day can be a little overwhelming, unless you have a lot of time on your hands.

You will need a total of 8 cups of broth to work with, I've made notes on pre-making your broth if you are using Store Bought.


Pre-making Store Bought Broth (Stock)


~ Makes 8 cups of soup with finished ingredients ~

Use either Vegetable or Chicken Stock.

If using a Bouillon Cube, add 7 cups of water and 1 cup of Dry White Wine to one cube of Bouillon...

or

5 cups of water and 1 cup of Dry White Wine to 2 cups of ready made broth.

For this soup add 1/2 TSP of each of these spices to the broth you are using.

Hot Paprika
Red Chilli Flake
Turmeric
Rosemary
Mace

1/2  Cinnamon Stick (not ground, use a full stick**)
1/4 TSP Ground Clove
1/4 TSP Ground Sage

1 TBSP Basil





Note: Most ready made broths already contain garlic and salt. The finished recipe includes one large clove of garlic and I added additional Salt to my taste. You can absolutely add a little extra of each at any stage if you wish.

** Cooking Tip: Use a cinnamon stick when making Tea, Broth or Stews, you can control the flavour better as the cinnamon flavour absorbs into the water. Additionally, this method keeps the cinnamon powder from turning into jelly. 

Making Soup Stock from Scratch

If you are making your broth from scratch, use the following ingredients and add the spices as noted above *

8 Cups of Water,
1 Cup Dry White Wine
1 Large Carrot
1 Large Celery Stalk
1 Small Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic
1/4 each Red and Yellow Bell Peppers

Salt to taste


Instructions, Store Bought or Home Made Broth


Add all of your ingredients to a large pot.

Bring everything to a boil, stir and let simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.

Remove from heat, remove the cinnamon stick and allow the broth to cool.

Place in your refrigerator until ready to use.

Strain the broth prior to using it to make the soup!
Use a sieve with cheesecloth, place over a large bowl to catch the broth.


Please check this post if in doubt Chicken Stock






Roasting your Vegetables:

I used a real pumpkin to make this soup, not a filling. You will need 1/2 of a small pumpkin or 1/4 of a large one to get 4 cups of roasted Pumpkin Puree.

Tip: You can substitute a large Acorn Squash and get similar results.

4 Cups Pumpkin Puree

Olive Oil to lightly coat the Pumpkin

1 Small Golden Beet, chopped
1 Large Celery Stalk, chopped
1 Small Onion, quartered
2 Cloves of Garlic, halved
1/4 each Red and Yellow Bell Peppers, chopped

Pre-heat your oven to 370 F

Slice your Pumpkin into strips.

Remove seeds.


Brush the flesh of the Pumpkin with  Olive Oil.

Clean and slice the Beets, Bell Peppers Onion and Celery.

Roast Pumpkin and Vegetables in the oven, uncovered for 20 minutes or until the flesh on the pumpkin starts to brown slightly.

Roast the vegetables separately from the pumpkin, as you will cover them with either water or Stock  (3/4 to 1 cup) so the smokiness and flavours of the vegetables of the will absorb into the water overnight.

Allow everything to cool and place in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, remove the skin of the pumpkin and slice the flesh into cubes.

Note: You can puree the vegetables and pumpkin ahead of time if you wish, or use an immersion blender and blend the ingredients once the broth and spices have been added.







Additional Spices and Ingredients

1/4 Cup Butter

1/2 of a Cinnamon Stick

1/2 TSP each:
Sugar
Cumin
Coriander

1/4 TSP each:
Ground Mace
Ground Nutmeg

1/8 TSP each:
Ground Ginger
Ground Clove

Salt to taste

Final Instructions to Finish the Soup:

Take one cup of Broth from the Stock you pre-made and bring to a boil.

Add your Spices and the cinnamon stick.

Finely Dice the Onion and Garlic, add to the boiling broth.

Cook until Translucent.

Add remaining Broth to the Boiling contents, bring back up to a boil.

Add your Pumpkin Puree and Vegetables, bring back up to a boil for 1/2 an hour.

Add Butter.

Remove the Cinnamon Stick !!!

Reduce heat and use an immersion blender to smoothly blend the ingredients.

All done and ready to serve.

You can serve with a dollop of sour cream, a splash of Kefir or indulge and add a drizzle of 35% Cream at the time of serving. Garnish with fresh or dried Parsley.

Please enjoy!

I will be adding more recipes this month as I go through my notes on the dishes I have made this Fall. Additionally, I will be writing a post on why it's important to learn to cook, if you want to know what you are eating.

I have had an eye-opening three years since I started this blog, and much of what we were told to eat in our youth is getting a serious over-haul.

Have a wonderful day!

Tweet

Subscribe to receive free email updates: