Butternut (or any) Pumpkin Soup Recipe

Butternut pumpkin on the vine

We are growing squash in our garden (we call it pumpkin but I think the rest of the world would call it a butternut squash). I’m not exactly sure where the seeds came from. I planted what was supposed to be jap pumpkins in this area so whether they were mislabeled (I got them as a shared seed in an organic gardening class) or whether these are volunteer plants that just came up from the compost I don’t know. And I don’t care all that much either.

Anyway, I’ve been wondering when the pumpkins will be ready to pick. I was thinking the stem should die off a little but that hasn’t happened yet. Regardless, this squash has stopped growing, the leaves along the stem are almost all dead and it just looks ready. Frank and I decided it was ripe enough and it was time to harvest.

Clearly we were right about that since the possum decided the night before was the perfect time to harvest. Note to self: next time harvest 1 day before I decide to harvest, thereby getting the jump on my possum. (Yes, I know, I put up a nest box for a possum, go into spasms of joy when one moves in, then get my nose put out of joint when he eats my vegetables. I’m not behaving as a sane person should. So sue me!)

My squash, ready for harvest and only half-eaten by my possum :-}

Pumpkin seeds rejected by my possum, I wonder why he doesn’t like them

I don’t want to harp on my losses, this is a recipe post; I’ve had enough marauding fauna posts lately!

So, without further ado, here’s a recipe for really, really, really good pumpkin soup.

1) Cut up into small bits: 1/2 onion, 1 inch of ginger and 1 clove of garlic. Fry in soup pot in a bit of olive oil until soft.

2) Peel and cut into chunks, about 3 cups of pumpkin (or any squash) flesh.

3) Cut up about 1 cup of carrots.

4) Throw pumpkin and carrots into the pot with onion, ginger & garlic. Add water and bouillon cube (or chicken stock or similar) to cover about 1/2 of the pumpkin .

5) Simmer until pumpkin is soft (about 20 minutes).

6) Remove pot from heat, add 1/2 cup cream (or milk)  and blend with a stick blender or in a normal blender until creamy. The texture can be anything from runny soup to more of a pumpkin puree depending on how you like it.

7) Serve as is or top with croutons, bacon, ham pieces and/or chopped parsley.

Obviously this can be a great vegetarian dish or ham it up if you’d prefer. Either way it’s tasty, healthy and cheap.

Pumpkin Soup

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