Don’t throw that pumpkin flesh away. Don’t waste your time making disgusting pumpkin pie [a personal view], just make pumpkin soup – the best soup ever [also a personal view]
RECIPE FOR PUMPKIN SOUP
Ingredients
1 oz. [2 tablespoons] butter
2 small onions, thinly sliced and pushed out into rings
1 lb. pumpkin flesh chopped
2 pints [5 cups] chicken stock
½ teaspoon salt
1 celery stalk, trimmed and chopped
1 large potato, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
⅛ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon paprika [mild Hungarian]
8 fl.oz. double cream
Method
In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over moderate heat. When the foam subsides, add the onions and the pumpkin and cook them, stirring occasionally for 5 to 7 minutes until the onions are soft and translucent but not brown.
Gradually stir in the chicken stock, salt, celery, potato, lemon juice, Tabasco sauce and paprika. Increase the heat to moderately high and bring the mixture to the boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer the soup for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the pumpkin and vegetables are very tender.
Remove the pan from the heat and pour the soup through a strainer [don’t be tempted to put through a blender as you will get a totally different result] into a large mixing bowl, pressing down on the vegetable pulp with the back of a wooden spoon to extract the juices [when cooled the soup can be frozen at this stage]. Discard the pulp. Stir the cream into the soup, return the soup to a medium-sized saucepan and place over moderate heat, stirring constantly for 6 minutes or until the soup is very hot, but not boiling.
Remove the pan from the heat and serve immediately.
