NCFC:Recipes/Pumpkin and Carrot Soup
Pumpkin and Carrot Soup from Joanne Weir's "More Cooking in the Wine Country," adapted a la Nourishing Traditions.
Butternut squash is what I used more often than pumpkin. It stores well. Acorn squash, too. When I use pumpkin I get it from the Asian market. These are small pumpkins, the size of small basket balls. Different pumpkins are available at farmers markets, too, however.
The original recipe calls for oiling baking sheet with olive oil. I've used raw butter, a combination of raw butter and organic virgin coconut oil, just plain organic virgin coconut oil, and next time will try organic palm oil. Benefits of these oils are on pp. 16-20 of Nourishing Traditions. The soup uses several spices available through our Frontier distributor, whose spices are not irradiated.
Squash or Pumpkin and Carrot Soup
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds butternut squash or sugar baby pumpkin or acorn squash
- 3 tb. raw butter or 1/2 raw butter and half organic virgin coconut oil, or 3 tb. organic virgin coconut oil, or 3 tb. palm oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp. coriander
- 1 tsp. turmeric
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
- 4 large carrots, coarsely chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp. honey
- 3 cups homemade chicken stock a la Nourishing Traditions cookbook (with fennel seeds added in bouquet garni or chopped fennel root added to stock vegetables for their digestive impact as well as flavor; fennel seeds are a traditional ingredient in bouquet garnis for chicken stock in Provence)
- 3 cups water
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup 24-hour cultured yogurt (made ahead)
- 6 tb. chopped fresh cilantro or if no cilantro, 1/2 tsp. ground (non-irradiated organic) cinnamon or nutmeg
- Prepare homemade chicken stock (healthy gelatin content). I made mine with 2 chicken feet, chicken back, garlic, carrots, onions, lovage instead of celery, Bay leaves and French Thyme. Next time, I'm making a bouquet garni a la Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking: 12 parsley stems, 8 peppercorns, 1/4 tsp. thyme, 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, 1 bay leaf. In Nourishing Traditions parsley is added during last 10 minutes of cooking for the benefit of electrolytes.
- Roast butternut squash, sugar baby pumpkin (the variety that's the size of a small basketball, not the Halloween decoration variety), or acorn squash by cutting them in half and placing them cut side down on baking sheet coated with one or more oils--palm oil or coconut oil and butter. Place in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for around 50 minutes. Start checking at 45 minutes. Bake until squash can be easily pierced with a knife. Allow to cool slightly, then scrape seeds, spoon out flesh and reserve.
- Melt butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft, 7 minutes. Add the paprika, cumin, turmeric, and coriander and continue to cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the squash, carrots, honey, chicken stock, water, 1/2 teapoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered until the carrots are soft, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.
- Puree the soup in several batches in a blender or food processor until it is very smooth. Process each batch 3 minutes. (This will seem excessive at first, but you will be rewarded with very creamy soup, which is what you want.) Strain through fine mesh strainer back into the pot and gently reheat. (Truthfully, I haven't strained since I made myself blend each batch for 3 minutes. The soup is very smooth and creamy.) If the soup is too thick, add water. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Place yogurt in a small bowl. Season it with salt and pepper and stir well.
- Ladle the hot soup into bowls, garnish with a sprig of cilantro and a drizzle of yogurt and serve. Or if no cilantro, drizzle yogurt over soup and sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg.
Serves 6
This is so creamy that it can be enjoyed cold, too. Be liberal with the yogurt "garnish."
