Colin Cowie’s Spectacular Spiced Pumpkin Soup

By smleonard

Ingredients

• 8 small sugar pumpkins (approximately 6 inches across)
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 medium onions (yellow or white), chopped
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 2 tsp. curry powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
• 3 (15-oz.) cans 100 percent pumpkin
• 3 (14 1/2-oz.) cans chicken broth
• 2 c. milk
• olive oil, or other cooking oil, for brushing

Details

Servings 8

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut off top 1/8 of each pumpkin, keeping crowns with their original bottoms. Scoop out seeds and stringy mass with a spoon and discard, keeping flesh intact. Set pumpkins aside. Melt butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, approximately 4 minutes. Add dry spices and stir about 1 minute. Add canned pumpkin and 5 cups broth; blend well. Bring soup to a boil and immediately reduce heat, cooking at a low simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add milk and stir until heated through. Taste soup and adjust seasonings. Add more milk if desired. Place pumpkins on a sheet pan, tops next to matching bottoms. Brush cut edges with olive oil. Warm in oven, 5 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile, transfer soup. In batches, to a food processor or blender and cover tightly. Blend until smooth. Return soup to saucepan. If it’s too thick, add more broth until desired consistency is reached. Heat soup on low until hot. Set pumpkins on individual serving plates, and ladle soup into each one. Slice into stem of each top, insert a place card, and replace on gourd.