The end of the summer brought about several bountiful crops - small green peppers, a bumper crop of a few zucchini (that the squash bugs didn't destroy!), tomatoes, apples, grapes, peaches, small pumpkins - mostly pie pumpkins, and ice box watermelon. I was like a canning and cooking fiend. On my best days I put up 8-12 quarts of something or another - Typically some type of "garden marinara sauce".
When the tomatoes ran out (Or more likely when I ran out of steam for cooking them all) I was faced with the last of the green peppers and pumpkins! We ate a lot of pepper steak and I made several batches of the pepper/onion mix to freeze for use later. Pumpkins though they were a different story, and we had 30 small pie pumpkins and 4 presumably small carving type pumpkins, we carved 2 of them.What does one do with pumpkins that's not "sweet". I knew I could make a killer pumpkin spice cake/cupcakes - But what else?! And so I went on the hunt...
I found several awesome recipes that I'll write about in the next few days: Pumpkin Noodle Bowl (courtesy of a Facebook friend), Pumpkin Ravioli, Pumpkin Pasta, and finally several Pumpkin Soups. When I got confident in the flavors of pumpkin I made my own recipe that turned out mild but very tasty. Here it is:
Delicate Pumpkin Soup
1/2 cup minced onion
1 1/2 T unsalted butter
2 cups of fresh pumpkin puree or 1 can of pumpkin puree
3 T Parmesan Cheese
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups beef, chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 t dried thyme
1/4 t dried tarragon
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream, creme fresh, roasted pumpkin seeds or fresh fried sage leaves for garnish
1/2 cup minced onion
1 1/2 T unsalted butter
2 cups of fresh pumpkin puree or 1 can of pumpkin puree
3 T Parmesan Cheese
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups beef, chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 t dried thyme
1/4 t dried tarragon
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream, creme fresh, roasted pumpkin seeds or fresh fried sage leaves for garnish
Brown 1/2 cup of minced onion in a pan with 1 1/2 T butter. Add 2 cups of pureed pumpkin and saute for an additional 2 minutes. Add 3 T of Parmesan cheese and a dash of nutmeg. Simmer gently until the pumpkin mixture is slightly dry.
Add approximately 1 cup of heavy cream and 2 cups of desired broth and whisk together until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Add a 1/4 t thyme, 1/4 t tarragon ad 1 bay leaf and bring soup to a gentle boil for approximately 30 minutes - Or longer to add more of the herbal flavor!
Season with salt & pepper to taste and top with a dollop of sour cream or creme fresh and couple chopped and seasoned baked pumpkin seeds or a fried sage leaf for garnish.
Yummy, hearty and warming... The entire family liked this recipe!
Add approximately 1 cup of heavy cream and 2 cups of desired broth and whisk together until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Add a 1/4 t thyme, 1/4 t tarragon ad 1 bay leaf and bring soup to a gentle boil for approximately 30 minutes - Or longer to add more of the herbal flavor!
Season with salt & pepper to taste and top with a dollop of sour cream or creme fresh and couple chopped and seasoned baked pumpkin seeds or a fried sage leaf for garnish.
Yummy, hearty and warming... The entire family liked this recipe!
