For friend's thanksgiving this year, Darren was inspired by the lesser known, yet surprisingly potent aphrodisiac, pumpkin. We whipped up this soup, borrowed line by line from The Greens Cookbook, by Deborah Madison.
STOCK
Seeds and scrapings from inside pumpkin or squash
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 celery stock + leaves, diced
1 turnip, peeled and diced
2 bay leaves
½ t. dried sage leaves or 5-6 fresh sage leaves
4 parsley branches
3 thyme branches
½ t. salt
8 cups cold water (we could have used more stock, the soup was really thick, I would add more water here)
Combine stock ingredients and bring to boil, simmer for 25 minutes. Strain, saving stock.
SOUP
1 pumpkin or squash weighing about 2 ½ pounds. They suggest sugar pumpkins or any non-stringy squash with a delicious flavor
3 T. butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
½-1 t. salt
6-7 cups of previously mentioned stock
½-1 C. light cream
White pepper (we used black)
3 oz. Gruyere cheese, finely grated
Thyme leaves for garnish
Preheat oven to 400. Bake pumpkin face down on lightly oiled baking sheet until skin is wrinkled and flesh is soft. About an hour. Remove from oven and when cool enough to handle peel off skin. Reserve any carmelized juices for the soup. Melt butter in soup pot, add onion and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add cooked pumpkin, juices, salt and stock. Bring to a boil, simmer covered for 25 minutes. Pass soup through food mill (or use an immersion blender) to blend to desired consistency. Add cream and more stock if necessary to thin soup. Salt and pepper to taste, stir in cheese, garnish with thyme and voila! Girls, eat your heart out.
Serves 4-6
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