Pumpkin Soup

Happy halloween! I hope you all had lots of fun stuffing your faces with Almond Joys and Reese's Cups. All. Day.

But I do hope that your incessant gorging was interspersed with a few bites of something substantial and nutritious. You know, like caramel apples and stuff.

Or pumpkin soup. With plenty of heavy cream. Topped with bacon and feta cheese.

I made this for a Halloween party we went to tonight. Our neighbor gave me the recipe and the pumpkin (Thanks Mrs. Fed!). I was thinking, "hmm, pumpkin soup. This should be pretty good." But once I tasted it, I was like, "HOKEY DINO!! This is the most incredible soup I have ever tasted!"

Speaking of dinos, I would like you to meet my assistant.

 Yup. That's Grandpa Longneck. Don't know what I'd do without him.

And you probably never new that my macbook doubles as a table. It's called being resourceful, my friends.

 Anyways, this soup really was better than my wildest dreams. I've been wanting to do something savory with pumpkin for a while, so this was perfect. Of course, I didn't exactly follow the recipe. I'm a very disobedient child. Also, don't be afraid of the nutmeg. It doesn't seem like something you would want to add to a savory dish, but it really does add warmth to soups when used lightly.

I topped it with some feta and bacon. It just seemed like the thing to do. Actually, I only did that for the photo. I just zapped one piece of bacon in the microwave and sprinkled on the feta, snapped a few pictures, scooped the toppings off and threw the rest back in the pot to take to the party.

Don't worry, the bacon and feta did not go to waste.

Recipe: Pumpkin Soup

2 tablespoons butter
4 cups fresh pumpkin, cut into 1/2- inch cubes
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped carrots
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon fresh parsley
3 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Put the butter, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and pumpkin in a pot on high heat. Cook for a few minutes. Add the thyme, salt, peper, nutmeg, parsley, chicken stock. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the fresh pumpkin is tender.
Puree about 1 cup at a time in the blender. Return to pot and add the cream. Garnish with crumbled bacon and feta cheese.

 

 Make this. FOR REAL. Tasting is believing, kids.