It’s winter squash season, and if you’re anything like me, you’re probably a little tired of the hackneyed butternut squash soups that abound at this time of year. Wanting to make a nourishing and warming soup for a friend who was in the hospital, I played around to create this delicious pumpkin soup with a tahini twist. Inspired by my favorite cookbook chef, Yotam Ottolenghi, you could take this up a whole other notch with a light swirl of pomegranate molasses to finish.
I find the best pumpkins to use for cooking are the small ones: sugar pumpkins – and I was fortunate enough to find one at Greenstring Farm the other week. With a freezer full of chicken broth, and tahini in the pantry, this was easy to rustle up.
- 15h
- 50h
- 1h 5m
Ingredients
- 1 sugar pumpkin, washed, skin on
- chicken broth, preferable homemade
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 tablespoon toasted pumpkin seeds
- tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to season.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.
- Cut the sugar pumpkin into half and scoop out the seeds. Set aside the seeds. Then cut the pumpkin halves into even wedges and place in a roasting pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Place in the oven with a half-inch of water at the bottom of the roasting pan. This will help steam the pumpkin and prevent it from drying out. Test for doneness after about 15-20 minutes. It's not vital that the pumpkin is cooked all the way through as it will be added to the chicken broth shortly.
- Meanwhile, rinse the pumpkin seeds and remove any 'guts' that may be attached. Lightly pat dry using paper towel. Place on a baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt. Place in the oven and keep a close eye... the seeds should be nicely roasted within about 8-10 minutes.
- Once the pumpkin is cool enough to touch, easily peel off the skin from the wedges and discard. I find it much easier to do at this stage than when it's raw.
- Next put the pumpkin pieces into a saucepan, and scantly cover with chicken broth. Season with salt and place on the stove top for about 10 minutes over a medium heat or until the pumpkin is perfectly soft.
- Place in the blender (be careful to get a tight seal so the lid doesn't blow off), add the tahini and purée to a fine, smooth consistency.
- Taste for seasoning. Serve into two bowls and sprinkle a few toasted pumpkin seeds on top. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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