A couple weeks ago, my CSA bin contained an item that I wasn’t too sure what to do with. Hey…it happens. Honestly. Not that this item was exotic or anything…it’s just not something I’ve done much with. The item in question…a pie pumpkin.
Naturally, one would think…make pumpkin pie! The thing is…aside from being a Celiac…I do not like pumpkin pie! Never have. So, baking a pie was out of the question. I had to come up with something else to do with it. But first, I had a few out of town trips and the like to do…which actually allowed the pumpkin to ripen quite a bit while I was away. So, on Sunday…I settled on spending time, chopping, peeling, seeding, and roasting up the pumpkin. For what?
Only one of my favorite things in the world. SOUP!
I found a great recipe from Eating Well that would also use up some of the apples that I got in my numerous bins over the past couple of weeks. Let’s face it…one can only eat so many apples. And when you go out of town…well…there they are. They are the hot item in the bin I get right now. Every week means more apples. I’m okay with that. I like apples. But I have a lot of them now. So…this soup was ideal because it included roasted apples as well. The recipe…super easy with only 9 ingredients. And trust me…this soup is awesome and creamy without the addition of milk, cream, or flour!
Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin-Apple Soup
Servings: 12
Time: Prep 30 minutes; Cook 60 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 pounds pie pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch chunks
- 4 large sweet-tart apples, such as Empire, Cameo, or Braeburn, unpeeled, cored, and cut into eighths
- 1/4 cups extra-virgin olive oil
- 1-1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 6 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
- 1/3 cups chopped hazelnuts, toasted
- 2 tablespoons hazelnut oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Toss pumpkin (or squash), apples, olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Spread evenly on a large rimmed baking sheet.
Roast, stirring once, for 30 minutes.
Stir in sage and continue roasting until very tender and starting to brown, 15 to 20 minutes more.
Transfer about one-third of the pumpkin (or squash) and apples to a blender along with 2 cups broth. Puree until smooth.
Transfer to a Dutch oven and repeat for two more batches.
Season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and heat through over medium-low heat, stirring constantly to prevent splattering, for about 6 minutes.
Serve each portion topped with hazelnuts and a drizzle of hazelnut oil.
~*~*~
Now, I have heard of the goodness of pumpkin and apple together, but this was the first time I tasted it for myself. And OH MY GOD! Yeah…it’s good. The pumpkin-apple combination brings a bit of sweet and savory to the soup. It is so yummy.
A word of warning…I had to hand peel, slice, seed, and chop my pumpkin and this took FOREVER. If you can buy it pre-done…DO IT! Trust me. Just do it. I have a great, sharp set of knives and this was still a struggle. It was totally worth it in the end…but, wow…it really took a lot of time to get it right and done. But, once it was roasting with the apples…my kitchen smelled awesome and I couldn’t wait to make it into the soup. Don’t bypass the hazelnut oil (it can be pricey!) or the chopped hazelnuts on top either. I found these to be key ingredients to the finished product.
When life hands you a pie pumpkin…seriously…make soup!
The Celiathlete 
This looks absolutely delicious
Thank you! It’s one of my favorite soups that I’ve made.