What’s in Season: Pumpkin Soup

You don't have to love fruits and vegetables to take advantage of the local farmer's market. Do it to support local business and farmers; do it if reducing your carbon footprint is a concern to you, or do it to try a new recipe using produce you can certain of its freshness and quality. This month's featured ingredient is everyone's favourite gourd the pumpkin. More than a Halloween decoration and a pie filling, pumpkins can be boiled, steamed, or roasted, and are an excellent source of beta-carotene. When used as a base for a soup, pumpkin adds a savoury smoothness that will warm you up on these chilly fall evenings, making this recipe a perfect meal to have before or after trick-or-treating.

Ingredients:

1 sugar pumpkin
1.4 L chicken stock
120 mL heavy whipping cream
7.5 g salt
5 g chopped fresh parsley
150 g chopped onion
2.5 g chopped fresh thyme
1 clove garlic, minced
5 whole black peppercorn

1.  Preheat the oven to 165 °C. Cut the pumpkin in half from stem to base, then remove the pulp and the seeds (save and roast them for a bonus treat). Cover each half with foil, and bake in the oven, foil side up, for one hour, or until they are tender.
2.  Scrape the pumpkin meat from the shell halves and puree it in a blender. Strain everything to remove any remaining stringy pieces, and set aside 4 cups worth of the puree. The rest can be stored in the freezer in freezer safe bags.
3.  On the stove, heat the chicken stock, pumpkin puree, onion, thyme, garlic, salt, and peppercorns to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.
4.  Puree the soup in small batches using a food processor or blender. Return everything to the saucepan, and again bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, then simmer uncovered for another 30 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream, then pour into soup bowls and garnish with fresh parsley.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

For reasons beyond my comprehension, my favourite NFL team is the New York Jets. As a distraction while watching them get their asses handed to them again, I carved our jack-o-lantern for Halloween. As a treat to my wife and son for high-jacking the living room TV to watch that debacle, I made them some roasted pumpkin seeds.

Ingredients

pumpkin
salt
seasoning

• Get to the seeds inside the pumpkin by either cutting the gourd into pieces, or by cutting a hole in it so you can reach in and take them out. Clean the seeds of any excess pumpkin innards under running water.
  
• Place the seeds in a pot and sprinkle them with about a tablespoon (15 g.) of salt.
  
  Cover the seeds with water, bring to boil, and let simmer for 10 minutes. Drain the seeds in a colander and dry lightly them with a paper towel.
• Spread the pumpkin seeds onto a baking sheet and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil (as I was out of olive oil, I used canola oil instead).
  
  Sprinkle your flavour popcorn seasoning on top (I used Old Bay), and roast the pumpkin seeds at 400°F (204°C) for 10 minutes, or until they have reached your preferred level of toasted-ness. Let the pumpkin seeds cool before eating.