Food Friday: pumpkin soup

Here's a seasonal recipe I love that can take a lot of variations. The theory is that you can get your kids to eat vegetables this way, but my kids won't eat it. That's ok -- more for me. This with a roll and an apple makes a great law school lunch.

Pumpkin Velvet Soup

1 pumpkin or other winter squash weighing about 4 lbs
(note! Must be a sugar pie pumpkin, not a decorative pumpkin!)
3 Tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
6 cups chicken stock (or broth, or water and boullion cubes)
1/4 cup orange juice
salt
pepper
nutmeg
1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)

Put pumpkin on a baking sheet and bake at 375 for at least an hour, until soft. Let cool.
Cut pumpkin in half, scoop out strings and seeds and throw away, and scoop flesh into a bowl.
In a large soup pot, saute onion in butter until soft. Add stock, bring to a boil, add pumpkin and simmer until pumpkin is completely soft and heated through.
If you have a hand blender, blend soup until smooth. If you don't have a hand blender, let soup cool, then puree in batches in a blender and return to pot.
Stir in orange juice, cream if desired, and dashes of salt, pepper and nutmeg.


That's the basic recipe. I made it last week with butternut squash and added 1/2 cup sour cream, cayenne pepper and garlic salt. I think you could add a potato to thicken it up, or an apple to give a sweet flavor, or even do a variation with maple syrup. Let me know if you try it out.
Here's how I accomplish soup during the week: Shop one day. Next day, turn on oven at dinner time, throw in pumpkin, take out an hour or two later and let cool, throw in fridge. Next night (or the night after) actually make the soup.