Pumpkin soup in a beige bowl on a countertop. Drizzles of coconut milk are drizzled on top.

This is THE Pumpkin Soup, This Time, I Swear

Pumpkin soup in a beige bowl on a countertop. Drizzles of coconut milk are drizzled on top.

Ghosts of pumpkins past have dared to voice the horrors I’ve unleashed upon them. Every year, about this time, I try to make a pumpkin soup, and it sort of kind of turns out okay. Mediocre pumpkin soup is a crime I’ve committed over and over again. Chalk outlines of pumpkins line my front doorstep. In dreams, I see caution tape. The words, “It’s coming from inside the house,” haunt me. I’m the culprit, inside my own house. But this soup, that I just made, is sooo much better. I’m naming it my Pumpkin Soup Redemption Recipe.

I drew inspiration from the omakase, sixteen-course meal I had at the Paradise Cove resort in Fiji just a few weeks ago. After the sixteen courses were over, the chef asked me, “Which dish stood out the most?” With all my heart, I said, “I wish I could make a pumpkin soup like the one I ate tonight.” She told me she’d give me the recipe the next day, and I trust that if I had asked the next day, she would have, but I didn’t. I totally want it to be a secret—her secret.

So, I did the best I could to try to memorize the flavors and put together samples of the spices for the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Team to test. I also looked at various recipes online. Most of them incorporated fresh ginger, which would definitely contribute to the little kick of spice in the soup I sampled in Fiji. Fall spices, like allspice, seemed appropriate, but cinnamon didn’t seem to play a role in the soup we sampled. We were told, though, that fresh coconut milk was the key. I did what I could with canned—full fat—unsweetened.

The first spice mix I put together included dried ginger, which was much too powerful and too sweet. What worked? Cloves, cayenne, allspice, nutmeg, and cumin.

If you’ve committed one too many pumpkin-soup atrocities, save your soul with this recipe:

 The Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Pumpkin Soup Redemption

Ingredients:

–1/4 tsp garlic

–1/4 of a large yellow onion, finely minced

–1 tsp oil (I used olive oil)

–1 15-ounce can of pumpkin

–1 ½ tsps. salt (divided)

–1/4 + 1/8 tsp ground cloves (divided)

–1/4 + 1/8 tsp cayenne powder (divided)

–1/4 + 1/8 tsp nutmeg (divided)

–1/4 + 1/8 tsp ground allspice (divided)

–2 tsps. cumin (divided)

–3 ¾ cups of chicken broth

–2/3 cups of full fat, unsweetened coconut milk (plus a little more for drizzling as a garnish)

Method:

–Heat the oil and garlic over medium heat. Add the onion. Stir for about five minutes.

–Reduce the heat slightly and add the canned pumpkin.

–Add 1 tsp salt, ¼ tsp cloves, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, ¼ tsp allspice, ¼ tsp nutmeg, and 1 tsp of cumin. Stir.

–Add the chicken broth and increase the heat to boiling. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 20-60 minutes, adding more chicken broth if the broth level decreases too much. If it starts to boil over, remove the lid, turn off the heat for a while. Stir occasionally.

–Pour the coconut milk into a separate bowl. Add a little bit of the hot broth to the bowl to temper the liquid. Add this coconut milk and the remaining amount of salt and all spices. Let cook uncovered on low heat for about ten minutes. Stir occasionally.

–Ladle into bowls and garnish with drizzles of coconut milk.

Results: This creamy, savory soup has a little kick and lots of spice. It’s the Great Pumpkin from the Pumpkin Patch—everything I’ve always been waiting for. Is it exactly like the pumpkin soup I sampled in Fiji? No, but it’s definitely redemption worthy. All my sins will be erased with this one.

Serve this dish with:

–A great big “Amen.”

–Hayrides on a full-moon night.

–Smatterings of candy corn.

–A cauldron of pumpkin beer.

–A haunted corn maze.

–Scary stories around the campfire.

–Toasted pumpkin seeds on a foggy night.

–Monstrous amounts of good, crusty bread—perhaps bat-shaped.

Your Turn: What’s a recipe you’ve finally mastered?

Unknown's avatar

Published by ckennedy

Author of the DIY blog: Fixin' Leaks and Leeks. Paper/Rock Writing Consultation, Sole Proprietor.

36 thoughts on “This is THE Pumpkin Soup, This Time, I Swear”

  8. I’ve made a few different pumpkin soups, but the one ingredient that elevates them the most is an ingredient you’ve probably never heard of: Kürbiskernöl (Pumpkin Seed Oil). My understanding is that it is only produced in Austria, but you might try to find it online, or produce it yourself and get rich. Just a few drops of this oil will turn a decent pumpkin soup into a relevation. Try it, I urge you!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment