Recipe of a Week: Danger's Wicked-Tasty Mediterranean Pumpkin Soup

Trick or treat? Well, I assure you, this is certainly no trick - now that Fall is upon us, pumpkins are showing up everywhere, and this tasty concoction is an amazing version of the seasonal soup favorite. I can only get fresh pumpkins a few autumn months per year, which means I'll be making a lot of pumpkin dishes in the near future.




Ingredients:

4 cups pumpkin, chopped (about one small pumpkin, like the one the larger pumpkin is eating)
1/2 cups leeks, sliced
1 red onion, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 medium sized tomatoes, skin removed and grated on a cheese grater
1 freshly roasted bell pepper, skin removed (how to roast bell peppers at home?)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 cup light cream (or milk, or coconut milk) 
Freshly ground nutmeg (to taste)
Fresh flat leaf parsley
Salt and crushed black pepper

Prepare the pumpkin by slicing in half and removing seeds and pulp. Chop it into chunks which allow you to easily slice off the skin (or place the halves in the oven for 20 mins at 350 F/165 C to soften up the flesh; when soft, scoop out of pumpkin skin with an ice cream scooper).

Heat 1 Tbsp of the olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat.Add the pumpkin chunks (or scoops) and the leeks, and sweat them for about 20 mins, or until tender.

Place the pumpkin and leeks, together with your fresh tomato puree and roasted bell pepper into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth (can have some small chunks).

Heat in a large sauce pan 1 Tbsp olive oil, and cook the onion and garlic until soft. Add the pumpkin puree and the vegetable broth and bring to a slow simmer, stirring occasionally for 20 mins. Remove from heat.

Add diced fresh parsley, salt and pepper, fresh ginger, cumin, and the cream. Purify the entire mixture with an immersion hand mixer, or in batches in a food processor. The key is that the entire mixture will be perfectly smooth, and no chunks!

Garnish the soup with fresh cream and some more of the fresh parsley. Other options include some olive oil or pumpkin seed oil, pine nuts, or any thing else you think would be tasty!

I serve mine with home made garlic croutons - thin slices of whole wheat bread crisped up in olive oil with fresh pressed garlic. Amazing!

If Campbell's soup is "mmm mmm good", then consider this bad boy of a recipe "mmm mmm MMM good"!