Debbie is known by friends and family throughout the New Orleans area for her creamy, dreamy pumpkin soup. Not only is she a good cook but she is also generous with sharing her recipes. She agreed to share her technique for making pumpkin soup with me and is allowing me to pass it on to you! Debbie’s simple recipe uses canned pumpkin and can be prepared in a matter of minutes. She recommended, however, that the taste will improve if the soup is made the day before and is allowed to sit or “steep” overnight.
Another stroke of good luck contributed to the deliciousness of my final interpretation of Debbie’s original recipe. My walking companion and kitchen and cooking sister, Darnell, recently returned from her home state of Michigan and brought me a couple of sweet dumpling squash. How could anything be bad if it is called a sweet dumpling squash? I decided to combine all of these squash riches to make a creamy, dreamy, pumpkin squash soup with roasted sweet dumpling squash and pumpkin.
How simple is this? Start by sautéing a small to medium grated onion in butter. Grating the onion keeps the consistency of the soup smooth and creamy. You can double or triple this recipe if you like. If you are using canned pumpkin, you will add about 3 cups or 1 1/2 cans of the pumpkin puree to the sautéed onions. I used about one can of pumpkin and 2 cups of roasted sweet dumpling squash. I roasted the whole squash for about 11/2 hours at 350 degrees until soft. Then I removed the seeds and pulp and scooped out the tender flesh and added it to the pot with the pumpkin.
Whisk in the chicken stock and add your favorite spices. Debbie recommends a pinch of basil, sage, and thyme. A little heavy cream at the end and your pumpkin soup is magically transformed from a deep orange to a pale soft peachy color.
I used thyme and an organic Creole spice mixture from Marguerite’s to season my pumpkin and squash soup. Marguerite makes organic mixes with Himalayan pink salt and organic spices. She does not use any preservatives, sugar or additives. Her creole spice mixture has a little sage and a little cumin, allspice and cayenne, and other herbs and spices that provided a little zest and lift to my soup.
Check out Marguerite’s website, momixes.com and you can order some of her organic Creole seasonings too. Perfect with the pumpkin soup that you will be creating soon.
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