Thread: pumpkin soup

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I usually make " pumpkin" soup out of Hokaido pumpkins, you know the little ones. Im planning on getting a big pumpkin to carve for my balcony for the halloween party, and ive decided to make my guest soup for a late night snack. Do you guys use the pumpkin " meat" from youre carved pumpking for soup or baking or do you toss that and use another kind of pumpkin?

I make all sorts of pumpkin soups.

I have used both canned Libbys and roasted pumpkin flesh, and honestly, after doing this for years, Libbys gives a better product.

If you really want to use a fresh pumpkin, buy a sugar pumpkin. Make sure it is a pure sugar, some hybrids are made for both carving and cooking. Avoid those.
Cut off the lid and scrape out the seeds and guts.
Coat the outside of the pumpkin with olive oil.
Roast it for about 60-90 minutes on the rack at 400 degrees. Place a foil wrapped sheet on the next level down to catch juice drippings.
Once roasted, allow to cool.
Cut the pumpkin into sections, skin those sections and puree them in a food processor.

I recommend against this, but since you have experience with the little ones, what the heck - give it a shot.

(EDIT) to be clear, most Jacks are made from hybrids that are great for sculpting and carving, but too watery and stale tasting to be of much use for cooking.

I think eating pumpkins & carving pumpkins are 2 different types, so unless you plan on carving a small pumpkin for your JOL you'll need a different inedible one for your JOL.

Those giant record setting pumpkins that weight 400 lbs. are inedible. Well, I guess the squirrels would love them, but you can't make pie out of them.

Here's an interesting article from Smithsonian Magazine about those giants.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/scienc...t-Pumpkin.html

Thanx for youre input I always use fresh products when i cook, ( actually i dont think you can get canned pumpking here lol) so ill definatly be using fresh pumpkin. I was just thinking it was a waiste of ressources to just trow away all the pumpkin from when you carve it, so if it was just as good as other pumpkins I'd rather use that than trow it and buy new ones

I have never had pumpkin soup. Would some of you share the recipes. I am more interested in theones with the canned pumpkins.

Originally Posted by RCIAG

I think eating pumpkins & carving pumpkins are 2 different types, so unless you plan on carving a small pumpkin for your JOL you'll need a different inedible one for your JOL.

Those giant record setting pumpkins that weight 400 lbs. are inedible. Well, I guess the squirrels would love them, but you can't make pie out of them.

Here's an interesting article from Smithsonian Magazine about those giants.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/scienc...t-Pumpkin.html

cool will check it out -hmm maybe i should just carve some small ones then lol.. or something..

Printers devil, i wouldnt even know how to use canned ones hehe, but im sure they work similar to fresh -i normally just use a whole small one -wah it well, and chop it into bits ( with the peel still om) and take away the seeds.
first i roast a bit of onion and garlick in a pan with oliveoil and salt, add the chopped pumpkin, a carrot or two, a small sweet potatoe ( or a bakingpotatoe) a big tomatoe, a bit of fresh chilli, and some salt. Add boiling water till it covers the whole thing and put the lid on -then i leave it there on low/medium heat as long as i can wait -an hour maybe, untill the whole thing is a total soft mass lol. Then blend, add salt if u need, and serve with garlick bread -im sure u can use canned pumpkin too alltho i would think it had a bit of a can aftertaste.

Canned pumpkin isn't even what we call pumpkin but closer to a butternut squash, a hybridized gourd bred for better flavor and yield. Since most winter squash are pretty much the same species that put on different clothes in the morning, there's nothing in the regulations that says it can't be sold as pumpkin. It tends not to have as deep a color as a real sugar pumpkin but usually tastes better than the mass marketed ones. You can eat a carving pumpkin but it'll be stringy and bland.

hmm.. bland i can deal with, thats what chilli was invented for haha.. but stringy might be to annoying especially as im planning for the soup to be late night meal..

Xane, yeah, Libbys uses the Dickenson squash I think, grown just for them, but it technically qualifies as a pumpkin variant.

As for a pumpkin soup recipe, I posted one last year, but here is another one we like.

One small yellow onion
6 cloves garlic
1 lbs bacon
3 large carrots, finely shredded
4 cans of Libbys pure pumpkin meat
4 cans chicken broth
1 cup half & half or 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon each of sage, parsley, thyme.

Mince onion, garlic and bacon. Fry in bottom of soup pot until onions and bacon fat are clear.
Add broth, pumpkin, carrots and herbs.
Simmer on low for 1 hour. Add more broth or water if desired.
Remove from heat, whisk in cream or half & half.

Serve in bowls with crusty bread. If desired garnish with crumbles of blue cheese.

Enjoy.