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The Gourmet Librarian

Photograph of the Gourmet Librarian and her family

The "Gourmet Librarian" is a monthly series on the CCPL Website

October 2007

Pumpkin Soup

There's a chill is in the air. It's my favorite time of year -- soup time! I don't eat much soup during the warmer months, but as soon as the weather turns cold I pull out my favorite soup recipes and welcome them like old friends. This past month, I've been busy moving, and I was surprised by how much food I needed to pack and move to our new house. I came across several cans of pumpkin filling and knew that one of our first meals in our new home would include one of my favorites, pumpkin soup.

This recipe has a special memory attached to it. I moved to Cincinnati in 1994 and as Thanksgiving approached I realized that, due to my work schedule, I wouldn't be able to go home to visit my parents. I invited Joanna, my friend from Michigan, recently divorced and without family, and her teenage daughter, Courtney, down to Cincinnati. I was both nervous and excited. I had never prepared a Thanksgiving dinner before! I found the delicious pumpkin soup recipe and decided to make it. As we sat around the tiny kitchen table in my tiny Mariemont apartment, we enjoyed the warm, savory soup appetizer. Thirteen years later, Joanna and Courtney still talk about their Cincinnati Thanksgiving, pumpkin soup, and how delicious and comforting it was.

If you like this recipe and would like to try some variations, take a look at the following website. It's filled with unique recipes for pumpkin soup: a delicious, curried pumpkin soup, a sweet apple pumpkin soup, and an interesting pumpkin and coconut milk soup that has a Caribbean taste to it. Pumpkin Soup Recipes

SEE YOU NEXT MONTH! MEET ME IN THE KITCHEN!

Lisa, The Gourmet Librarian

Pumpkin Soup

To Start and Have Prepared:

  • 1 or 2 onions peeled and chopped
  • 2 T. butter
  • 2 cans of pumpkin
  • 2 or 3 cans of broth (chicken or vegetable)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 t. cumin
  • 1 t. curry
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup of cream or half and half
  • nutmeg

Directions:

In a soup pot, sauté the onions in the butter until tender. Add the pumpkin, broth, bay leaf and spices and simmer for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the cream (or half and half), sprinkle nutmeg on top and serve immediately.