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Rach created this garlicky pumpkin soup for our Halloween episode—but it would be delicious for any cold weather meal.
"For Halloween, roast a Long Island cheese pumpkin. Scoop out, wash and roast the seeds," Rach suggests. "The pumpkin puree can be used in so many different dishes, [but] today, we're going to make a pumpkin soup and a deviled pumpkin grilled cheese sandwich."
Save It For Later: Reserve 1 cup of the pumpkin puree for Rach's Deviled Pumpkin Grilled Cheese, which she likes to serve alongside.
- 2 bulbs garlic, ends cut off to expose cloves
- Non-aerosol olive oil spray
- Salt and pepper
- One 4 to 5 ½ pound cheese pumpkin, aka Long Island
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 8-10 sage leaves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon orange or lemon zest
- 1 large fresh bay leaf
- 1 quart chicken bone broth or stock or vegetable stock
- Smoked blue cheese or blue cheese crumbles, flat parsley, and toasted pistachio or hazelnut
- Chopped pickled cherry peppers or giardiniera
- Dollops of mascarpone or crème fraiche and freshly grated nutmeg
- Cheese curds or crumbled young pecorino and hot honey, chives
Preheat oven to 425˚F with rack at center.
Spray garlic lightly with oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap in a foil pouch.
Quarter the pumpkin. Remove and wash seeds, dry, spray with oil and roast to deep golden brown, season while hot with salt and pepper or salt and sugar or just salt.
Scrape away stringy center of pumpkin and spray flesh lightly with oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange on baking sheet with the garlic. Roast garlic 35-40 minutes, and squash until golden, soft, and browning at edges, 45 minutes. Cool to handle.
Squish the garlic from the skins. Scoop the squash from the skins.
Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat with EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, add butter and let it foam, add onions, carrots, sage, citrus zest and bay leaf, season with salt and sweat, partially covered, 5-6 minutes, then add stock, simmer 10-15 minutes at low bubble, add pumpkin and garlic, remove bay leaf, then use an immersion blender to puree.
Top with toasted pumpkin seeds and garnishes of choice.
