Pumpkin Patch Soup

This creamy Pumpkin Patch Soup recipe gets deep fall flavors from roasted pumpkins and garlic along with some Middle Eastern spices. We paired it with a fall amber ale for a perfect fall dinner. This is a meatless recipes, with the creamy consistency coming from the pureed vegetables and pumpkin.

I must confess. I am a pumpkin cooking novice.

Pumpkins are all around us this time of year. Pumpkins are at the farms, the stores and front porches. And yes, they are on food blogs big time in October. Today’s Pumpkin Patch Soup is the first Cooking Chat recipe featuring pumpkins.

I like pumpkins in moderation. Not a fan of pumpkin beer or pumpkin coffee. But I’ve always loved pumpkin bread around Thanksgiving. Yet when I was ready to prepare a pumpkin recipe of my own, I was inspired by a few Middle Eastern spiced pumpkin dishes.

Based on my experience with other squash, I figured Pumpkin Patch Soup would be more flavorful if I roasted the pumpkins first. Once you get the oven going to roast the pumpkins, why not roast some garlic, too? As the weather gets cool, you’ll find a lot more recipes with roasted garlic here on Cooking Chat!

I figured roasting pumpkins would be similar to other squashes, but I did consult this pumpkin roasting tutorial from Oh She Glows for some tips. One good idea was using an ice cream scoop to help remove the seeds!

I originally had a notion of trying to make the soup look a pumpkin patch, thus the Pumpkin Patch Soup name. But instead this soup is inspired by the pumpkin patch, featuring fresh local pumpkins roasted alongside some garlic. We finish it by pureeing the roasted pumpkins and the other veggies with an immersion blender. Serve the Pumpkin Patch Soup topped with some toasted pumpkin to get the full pumpkin patch effect.

An immersion blender is so handy for pureeing soups to get a nice, even consistency. You can transfer the soup to a food processor and puree in batches if you don’t have an immersion blender. But if you like thick, creamy soups (without necessarily adding cream), I highly recommend getting an an  immersion blender, so am including an Amazon link for your convenience.

Pairings for Pumpkin Patch Soup

Wine is my go to pairing with most recipes, but I suspected a good beer might work well with the Pumpkin Patch Soup. I pour a glass of Harpoon Flannel Friday Amber Ale to go with the Pumpkin Patch Soup. The hoppy beer has good fall flavors– a bit of nuttiness and hint of butterscotch as I recall–but no pumpkin flavor! As suspected, the Flannel Friday paired very well with our soup. I tried some of the leftover soup with a Merlot, and the beer definitely was a better pairing.

The folks working the Harpoon Twitter account seemed surprised I didn’t know what Flannel Friday was, outside of the name of one of their fall beers. Apparently it’s a theme for craft oriented bloggers, as described on this Flannel Friday site.  I think I’ll stick with cooking, and Flannel Friday for me will be about the beer!

Pumpkin Patch Soup

★★★★★

5 from 5 reviews

Roasted pumpkins and garlic simmer together and then get pureed for a creamy soup.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins
• Total Time: 50 mins
• Yield: 6 servings 1x
• Category: Soup
• Method: stove top
• Cuisine: American

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 2 small sugar pumpkins, 2 to 2 1/2 lbs each
• 1 head of garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 large potato, peeled and chopped
• Bay leaf
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup water
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp dried sage
• 2 1/2 tsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. PREPARE THE PUMPKIN: Use a large, sharp knife to cut off the stem, along with a small circle of the pumpkin. Then slice the pumpkin in half vertically from the stem area to the bottom. Scoop out the seeds with a tablespoon or an ice cream scooper. Use a sharp pairing knife to excise any of the remaining fibery strands that hold the seeds.
3. PREPARE THE GARLIC: Slice about 1/2 inch off the root end of the head of garlic, exposing some of the garlic clovers. Lay the garlic on a piece of aluminum foil.
4. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of the olive oil over the pumpkin flesh and the garlic. Salt and pepper to both the pumpkin and garlic to taste. Wrap the garlic clove tightly with the aluminum.
5. Place the pumpkin halves flesh side down on a baking sheet. Place the garlic alongside the pumpkin.
6. Roast the pumpkin for 30 minutes, until the flesh gets soft and you can piece the pumpkin with a fork. Remove the pumpkin and garlic from the oven to cool.
7. Start cooking the other vegetables after you put the pumpkin in the oven. Heat the remaining tablespoon olive oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes.
8. Add the carrots and potato. Stir to combine. Stir in the broth and water, and add the bay leaf.
9. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to simmer as the pumpkin continues to roast.
10. When the pumpkin has roasted and cooled a bit, scoop the pumpkin flesh into the soup pot.
11. Squeeze out a tablespoon of the roast garlic, add to the soup. Set the remaining roasted garlic aside for other uses.
12. Stir the soup pot to combine the pumpkin with other ingredients. Simmer 5 minutes to let the flavors combine.
13. Puree the soup with a handheld blender. Add the turmeric, paprika, sage, maple syrup and cider vinegar. Stir to combine, heat for another 5 minutes.
14. To serve, scoop the soup into bowls, and top with a sprinkling of the pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!

Keywords: pumpkin recipes, vegan soups, pumpkin soup

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