The Great Pumpkin Soup

I read a recipe by Bobby Flay, for a pumpkin soup with Greek yogurt rather than the typical heavy cream. Since I’ve been using more and more Greek yogurt in my cooking, I decided to try it.

I did use fresh pumpkin instead of canned, and substituted a Mexican paste in the mole group, called Pipian, which is made from ground pumpkin seeds and spices, instead of the chipotle puree. If you would like to use his the original way, you can find it at the Fage yogurt recipe site.

With all the wonderful farms and growers here in Ramona, I decided to try something different for this soup. I used a beautiful white pumpkin from Dowle Agri, on Warnock Drive. White pumpkins have many names, including Ghost Pumpkin, Lumina and Baby Boo, so particularly appropriate for Halloween week.

White pumpkins are great for cooking, and very creamy. This soup can be made with canned pumpkin or fresh, and up to you what color you choose. So first, gather these ingredients:

• 3 cups pumpkin puree (if using fresh, you can either bake pumpkin or boil it as I did, or canned is fine too. You will need about twice as many cups of fresh chunks, I used about 6 cups)
• 3 cups chicken broth or stock
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp allspice
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• OR about 1 to 1 ½ tsp of pumpkin spice substituted for these 3 spices
• 2-3 tbsp honey
• 1-2 tbsp pipian paste or chipotle puree
• ¾ cup Greek yogurt
• Fresh cilantro for garnish
• ½ cup toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish
• Salt and pepper to taste

If using canned pumpkin, skip to next paragraph. If using fresh, cut the pumpkin and clean out seeds and membranes. (I save the seeds and rinse them off, dry, toss in olive oil with salt and pepper, and bake for about 20 minutes on a cookie sheet at 275F.) I cut the pumpkin into manageable slices, which I peel and cut into chunks. Place these in a large pot and cover with water, bring to a boil, and cook until tender- about 20 minutes. Using  a slotted spoon, remove and put in blender or food processor and puree. You might have to do this in a few batches. Thin with chicken broth a bit if too thick to blend.

Put pumpkin puree in pot, and add 2 cups of the stock, spices, honey and the pipian paste, starting with less since you can always add more, but it doesn’t work  so well if you add too much and want less spice. I speak from experience. Sometimes less is more. 

Let this pumpkin mixture simmer for about 20 minutes. Add a little more stock if it needs to be thinned, whisking it smooth. Turn off heat, remove for a couple minutes to cool, then whisk in the yogurt. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with cilantro and toasted seeds. Yum!