Pumpkin Carving and Cooking

After weeks of talking about carving pumpkins and making the pumpkin soup on the cover of Sunset Magazine, we finally made the day dedicated to pumpkin happen. 


By the time I finished free handing (or free-carving) a cat face, resembling my furry friends at my house here, Harmony just found a winking pumpkin face on her phone. As she worked on her replica, I seasoned some pumpkin seeds with creole cajun seasoning, salt, and olive oil and popped them in a 300 degree oven until crispy. All in prep for our pumpkin seed-mint pesto for later. We were pretty excited.



Later on, we collected the rest of the ingredients for our soup:


SOUP:

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 4 1/2 cups peeled, 1-in. chunks pumpkin or other orange-fleshed squash (from a 2 1/2-lb. squash)
• 4 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

PESTO

• 1 small garlic clove
• 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, plus slivered leaves
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup salted roasted pumpkin seeds

• PREPARATION:
• Make soup: Sauté onion and ginger in oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat until golden, 5 minutes. Add garlic and coriander and cook until softened, 1 minute, then add pumpkin, broth, salt, and pepper. Simmer, covered, until pumpkin is very tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Purée in batches in a blender until very smooth.
• Make pesto: Pound garlic, whole mint leaves, salt, and 1 tbsp. oil in a mortar into a coarse paste (or use a food processor). Add remaining oil and pumpkin seeds and pound until coarsely crushed.
• Drop small spoonfuls of pesto over bowls of soup, garnish with slivered mint, and serve remaining pesto on the side.

We sat down to a candle-lit table, and enjoyed our delicious spiced pumpkin soup. We spooned the soup into bowls, then garnished it with our pesto sauce and roasted pumpkin seeds. The soup was smooth and thick, with a perfect cinnamon and ginger bite. The pesto added a little tang, gave it some zesty excitement. The pumpkin seeds gave it a fun crunch, making our meal more interesting than a puree diet. It was delicious!!! And a great start to Halloween week, and the fast approaching holiday season. 

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