Have you noticed all the colorful and fun-shaped pumpkins, gourds and squash piled high at the market lately?
I’ve been finding it impossible to resist throwing one or two of them into my cart and love using them in salads, soups, pasta dishes, custards, pies, muffins, breads, appetizers, etc. I also enjoy decorating with them, and you’ll find lots of them adding splashes of color on my dining room table, kitchen countertops as well as welcoming guests at the front door.
I had a bunch of those cute mini pumpkins on my fruit stand over the weekend. My sister, Dana was visiting and shared that she loves to hollow the baby pumpkins out, fill them with soup and serve these as a fun appetizer course.
I’ve roasted them in the past, filled with chunky applesauce and have seen them used for Thanksgiving stuffing, wild rice and even mashed potatoes – but soup? How fun! That’s all it took to get my brain whirring and thinking about what a delightful presentation they would make.
A new pumpkin soup was in the making… To make things simple, I picked up a bag of peeled and diced pumpkin at Trader Joe’s. Lots of stores have started carrying these convenient prepared veggies, but you can also do it yourself. Pumpkins can be a little tricky to peel, so I was thrilled to see my friend Denise, from the blog From Brazil to You share a tutorial on How to Easily Peel a Pumpkin for Cooking. It looks like a super simple technique and one that I’m going to love having in my culinary arsenal.
I added an Asian touch to my soup with fresh ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, cilantro and a pinch of red pepper flakes for a bit of heat. I love to squeeze as many fresh veggies into my soups as possible, so I roasted onions and carrots along with the pumpkin and then added a potato with the final simmer.
For a delicious garnish, I swirled a bit of Ginger Cream (which is just Greek yogurt combined with a splash of honey and grated fresh ginger), over the top of the soup. Toasted pine nuts and a fresh cilantro sprig adds the crowning touch.
And the little pumpkins? They were roasted in a hot oven (see technique below***) and transformed into fun little soup bowls by scooping out the seeds and pulp; perfect for a prelude to a special meal. Larger pumpkins could be used for serving the soup as a main course, but it’s also lovely served in a plain bowl with the pretty garnish. Add a loaf of crusty bread or some warm dinner rolls and a simple salad for a fall feast that everyone will love.
Note: What’s the best type of pumpkin for cooking and baking? It’s not the same one you’ll purchase to carve your jack-o-lantern. The flesh of carving pumpkins is usually wet, stringy and quite bland. The most widely available pumpkins for culinary use are “sugar” pumpkins; sometimes also called pie pumpkins. They are smaller, have a smoother skin than Halloween pumpkins and much better flavor. These cooking pumpkins are about the size of a small cantaloupe or honeydew melon. There are also lots of heirloom varieties in a multitude of shapes and colors that are wonderful for kitchen use. Some of these are Cinderella (a French-variety that’s shape resembles the fairy god-mother’s coach from the fairy tale!), Pink Banana Squash, Australian Butter, Quaker Pie and Cheese pumpkins, to name just a few.
Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Ginger Cream
A delicious Asian-inspired soup that’s super flavorful and loaded with lots of healthy veggies.
- Category: Soup
Ingredients
- Ingredients for the soup:
- 4 cups diced, peeled pumpkin
- 1 medium onion, peeled and sliced in 1-inch wedges
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut in 2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger, grate a little extra for the Ginger Cream topping (below)
- 2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 medium potato, chopped into approximately 1 1/2-inch pieces
- ½ cup cilantro, packed
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ cup Greek yogurt, I like whole milk Greek yogurt for this, but you can use whatever type you prefer.
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, more if needed
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- toasted pine nuts**, for garnish
- fresh cilantro springs, for garnish
- Ingredients for the Ginger Cream:
- ¼ cup Greek Yogurt
- 3 tablespoons half and half or milk
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- a pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line a sheet pan with foil or parchment paper.
- Place diced pumpkin, onion wedges and carrot pieces on the prepared sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Toss lightly to coat veggies with oil. Roast for 20 minutes or until veggies are beginning to turn golden, stirring halfway through.
- While the veggies are roasting, heat the 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pan over medium heat. When the butter is melted add garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin and red pepper flakes. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring continuously.
- Add the chicken broth, potato, cilantro, honey and roasted veggies. Bring to a boil then reduce to a steady simmer. Simmer, uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Blend with an immersion blender till silky smooth or blend in batches in a regular blender*.
- If using a regular blender, return soup to pot, add Greek yogurt and whisk until smooth. If soup is too thick, add more chicken stock.
- Taste and season, if needed with more sea salt and pepper. Serve hot with a swirl of Ginger Cream (see below), a scatter of toasted pine nuts** and a sprig of fresh cilantro.
- For the Ginger Cream, combine all ingredients and stir until well combined. Add a few small dollops on top of each soup serving and swirl with a toothpick or skewer for a pretty pattern.
Notes
Serves 6-8 as a main course, 8-12 as an appetizer soup, depending on the serving size.
*If using a regular blender, be sure to let mixture cool off a bit before pureeing. Also remove the center piece of the blender lid and cover it with a clean kitchen towel. The towel will avoid spatters but will allow steam to escape. This will prevent explosions which can occur from the hot liquid expanding as it’s blended.
** To toast pine nuts, place in a small pan and heat over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until golden. Stir frequently and watch carefully. Buying pine nuts is a bit like buying gold. They can easily go from golden to burned and that’s a very sad day!
***To prepare mini pumpkins to use as soup bowls as pictured, cut a small slice off of the top of each pumpkin. Preheat oven to 425˚F. Line a sheet pan with foil and grease lightly with olive oil. Rub the cut pumpkins all over with olive oil and place, cut side down, on the prepared sheet pan. Roast on the lowest oven rack for 15 minutes or until just beginning to get tender. Scoop out the insides leaving a 1/4-inch edge. I used a small scalloped cookie cutter for a decorative edge. I inserted the cookie cutter into the top of the cut pumpkin and then removed it. I scooped out the pulp and seeds with a melon scooper to retain the scalloped look. You could also use a round cookie cutter for a smooth, round edge, if desired.
Serves 6-8 as a main course, 8-12 as an appetizer soup, depending on the serving size.
sounds wonderful, but I’ll probably use butternut squash
such a fun presentation and the soup looks delicious! Unfortunately, I’m one of those people who just can’t handle cilantro. (I’m in good company, Ina can’t stand it either! LOL). Do you think it would be a disaster if I just left it out?
I spotted a huge pile of small pumpkins at the market today and was torn about buying some. The last time I bought some cutting and peeling was a huge chore. Now that the I’ve seen this I’m changing my mind.
Absolutely gorgeous! The pumpkins have such a nice glazed finish. Is that just from the olive oil?
Thanks Andrea, yes that sheen is just from roasting with the olive oil.
Who can get past the glasses to see the soup??
I bought some little pumpkins to do this with but you got there first. 🙂 Love this idea.
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I love the new look of your blog! It’s so clean and pretty and the picture of you and your Husband are adorable! Oh and the soup sounds simply amazing!!
Your soup looks adorable!! and sounds delicious~ just wanted to let you know that I am so thrilled about the change you made to insure followers get your posts, I have been trying to follow you for several years, and only every now and then do I get a post. It has happened with other sites too, and has been so frustrating! I am so glad that your posts will be arriving regularly now, I always look forward to seeing what wonderful things are happening in your kitchen!
Your soup sounds luscious, but serving it in the little pumpkins is such a fabulous idea! Beautiful, Chris!
Those mini pumpkins sure are cute, aren’t they? We have some around just because they’re so much fun to look at! We should make this soup, though, and use them — this is terrific. Good recipe. And I really like the light on the top photo.
I will give this a try next weekend!
Oh my word! I want to try this so much. The flavors of fall are so warm and comforting. There is nothing like them!
Chris you two are too cute! This is such a gorgeous recipe but I don’t think I’d want to ruin it by eating it. So pretty! Nothing to clean up either, just throw the skin to the chooks. Now to work on getting chooks…
This sounds great, but how much chicken broth does the recipe call for?
The combination of ingredients is fantastic!
Hi Carol, I think it got cut off when I copy and pasted the recipe. Thanks for noticing that. I have corrected it.
This looks divine and so comforting. Cute too, especially when serve in the pumpkins itself 🙂
OMG! Amazing Pictures! Love it!
Oh that pumpkin soup!! It was such a treat to see you in action. You and Scott are a great team, with your talent in cooking and Scotts’s in photography the two of you turn out works of art. But the best part was we were able to enjoy the soup for lunch. Followers you do not have to serve the soup in the pumpkin shells to be delicious. We had big bowls for lunch the next day. I could not have gone to a finer restaurant.
Your favorite sister, (that will get the other 2) Love,
Dana
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Love you Dana, it was SO fun having you here!
I love the way you served your soup in the pumpkins, so festive! The ginger cream topping sounds divine!
Love the presentation and the flavors of this soup. I just came inside from a walk with the dog in a cold misty rain and your soup is just what I need right now! Too bad I don’t have any little pumpkins lying around. On my list for the weekend instead. Girl time with sisters is wonderful! It doesn’t surprise me that you are all talented, creative cooks!
The soup sounds really flavorful and the presentation is gorgeous! Great pics too:@)
You two gals are so cute! This looks so good and so beautiful that it almost looks unreal! And the ginger cream, wow! Now, what else could I use that in or on?
Hi Ginny, that’s a greqt question. I think the ginger cream would make a great dipping sauce for some spicy grilled chicken.
Chris:
Thanks a lot for mentioning my technique on how to peel a pumpkin easily and also linking back to me. I do appreciate it… I also made and photographed a creamy pumpkin soup about 10 days ago but I have to say yours is much, much prettier than mine. I love your idea of serving the soup in a pumpkin shell as well as the Asian flavors in this soup. You did an excellent job — as always!!!
Enjoy your sister a lot. I miss mine who lives far away down in Brazil. 🙁
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What a delicious soup recipe, and what beautiful pictures! This soup looks so good. I love the ingredients and the use of Greek yogurt.for the ginger cream. You are such a fabulous cook, Chris! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Chris, love the picture of you and your sister together, looks like you are having a ball. Great idea about using the mini pumpkins as bowls, I have used them as candle holders………..Soup looks amazing!
I love pumpkin soup and this looks a real winner. Great photo of you and your sister 🙂 Have a good week, DFiane
Sorry new computer and the keyboard is bugging me, I have to hit it rather than touch it!!! Diane
Three words: TO DIE FOR!
Absolutely love the styling and all the colors! Brava!
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I’m not a huge soup fan… but pumpkin and butternut are a win in my book!! I think it’s the creaminess, texture. But whatever, I love the presentation! Liv would even eat it this way!!!
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I love all fall veggies..
They are getting very hard for my husband and I to cut..It was with relief that my 39 yr old daughter told me she had a heck of a time w/ the 2 butternut squashes she used for our soup..
Your soups sounds and looks delish..especially w/ this presentation..Your girls look adorb!
I have been eating lots of pumpkin soup lately…but still can’t get enough of it. Yours looks so beautifully presented and delicious, Chris.
Oh my heavens, Chris. When you get inspired, you really get inspired! You know me and Asian-inspired flavors, especially ginger. I’m sure I’d have problems just dolloping the ginger cream in my soup instead of just spooning it into my mouth!