Thanksgiving's Coming!

Here is a pumpkin soup recipe that I made recently, and I thought it was great. Be sure to use "sugar" or "pie" pumpkins when making this, as opposed to Jack O' Lantern type pumpkins. Pie pumpkins are meatier and have a darker flesh. I cut mine into quarters and baked them after brushing a little oil on the inside. I cooked them about an hour at 300º until the flesh was soft.

I then scraped the meat out of the darker orange skin. This is what you cook with, discarding the skin. About 5 or 6 cups of pumpkin are needed. Two small sugar pumpkins should do it. Drain off any moisture after you scrape the meat out of them.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. It's great for friends coming over to knock the November chill off. Slow cooking really helps infuse these flavors greatly.

Pumpkin & Andouille Soup

5 - 6 cups cooked pumpkin (2 cans canned)
1 ½ cup onion (diced)
1 cup celery (diced)
1 tbs garlic (minced)
1 tbs Tony C's Cajun & Creole Seasoning
2 cups Chicken stock (warm)
2 cups milk
1 stick butter or margarine
3 tbs flour
½ tbs each salt and black pepper
1 tbs rubbed sage
½ tsp nutmeg
⅓ lb Andouille Sausage (grated)
1 cup Half n Half
2 bay leaves

Sauté the onions, celery, garlic in half of the butter or margarine. Add sage, nutmeg, Tony C's, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Cook until onion has softened. Add remaining butter and flour, stir until flour browns a bit. Add 2 cups of warm stock and stir well.

Add sausage and cook for 10 minutes, then add milk. Bring this to a boil for 5 minutes, and then turn down to MED. Add the pumpkin and cook for about 30 minutes. Place the pot covered in a 300º oven and cook for 2 hours.

After cooking for 2 hours, remove from the oven and, using an immersion blender, pureé the entire pot of soup. If you don't have one of these, spoon everything into your food processor or standard blender and pureé. Check your seasonings for salt and keep warm. Serve garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds. For a unique serving method, hollow out another larger pumpkin, brush the inside with oil, and bake for about 30 mins. Serve soup inside this pumpkin. Impress your friends!

Enjoy the Holidays!

RouxBDoo