Curried Pumpkin Soup

As you may recall, I was a little short on pumpkin puree when making my pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. My husband and his sister bought a large can under the possible intention of using it to make pumpkin pancakes or something of that nature. When that didn’t happen, I was left with a large can of pumpkin and the need to do something with it.

Fighting the urge to just make pumpkin ice cream, I searched through my cookbooks until I found something exciting and different: curried pumpkin soup. I found a great recipe in my Alice Bay Cookbook, given to us from my husband’s oldest friend and our wedding officiant, Kai. Kai lives up in Washington’s Skagit Valley, where the recipes come from. I’ve only tried a few recipes out of the book, but they’ve all been good. I’ll have to look to it more.

This soup is pretty easy and it tastes amazing. The only note I’ll make is that when it has you transfer the soup to a blender or food processor to make smooth, make sure it is in small batches. I didn’t and I burnt my hand when the soup shot up through the top of the blender lid. Plus, I made a huge mess. Despite the mess and my hand, this was worthwhile.

Curried Pumpkin Soup from Alice Bay Cookbook:

Makes 6 portions

¼ c. butter
1 large onion, sliced
¾ c. green onion, sliced, white part only
2 c. pumpkin puree
4 c. chicken broth (I used 2 cups of my veggie stock and 2 cups leftover boxed chicken broth)
1 bay leaf
½ tsp. ginger
½ tsp. curry powder
¼ tsp. nutmeg
Few fresh parsley sprigs
2 c. half-and-half
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Garnish:
½ c. sour cream or yogurt (I used yogurt)
½ c. minced green onion or chives (I used green onion)



Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until soft and golden brown. Stir in pumpkin, chicken stock, bay leaf, ginger, curry powder, nutmeg, and parsley. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and continue simmering, for 15 minutes.



Transfer the soup in batches to blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Return to saucepan and add half-and-half. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes, but do not allow to boil.



To serve hot, ladle into individual bowls. Float a dollop of sour cream on each and top with green onions of chives.

To serve cold, chill soup thoroughly, serve in individual bowls and garnish with sour cream and chives.

This was a really good soup. I had mine with some of the Italian feather bread and that’s it. This would be a great starter for a fall/winter feast.