Pumkin Soup - cozy!

I probably should have posted this 2 months ago when pumpkin season began. Well, better late then never! It's more convenient to use a kabocha pumkin, since no peeling is necessary. However, I don't think it affects the flavor much if using a regular pumpkin. Then this would be one way to use that scraping from the Halloween pumpkin!

Part 1 - the soup:

1.5 kg pumpkin, peeled & cubed

or kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), cubed & no peeling needed

50 g butter

1 onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, peeled

a pinch cumin

1 L chicken stock

1 L water

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp crème fraîche

salt & pepper

Put butter into a large deep pan at medium high heat. Cook (sweat) onion for 5 mins or until onion becomes transparent. Add garlic, cumin, chicken stock and water. Turn heat to medium. Once boiling, simmer at low heat for 20-30 mins. Add crème fraîche and maple syrup. Use a handheld blender to blend the soup, so all ingredients become liquidity.  Finally, salt & pepper to taste. Serve!

Alternative 1: Instead of using 1 L chicken stock and 1 L water, I cook a chicken with 2 L water for 2 hrs at low heat (first at medium high, then turn it down once water is boiling) the night before. Skim off the fat the following day, before use.

Alternative 2: If a handheld blender is not accessible to you, use a regular blender.  You'll need to do it in batches, since the blender is probably not large enough.

Part 2 - the croutons (optional):

2 slices whole wheat bread, cut into small cubes

a pinch nutmeg

a pinch cinnamon

1 tsp white sugar

1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven at 350°F (180°C or gas mark 4).  Prepare the baking tray by covering the tray with a sheet of aluminum foil and brush a thin layer of oil.  Spread the bread on the tray.  Sprinkle all ingredients one by one.  Gently mix them.  Bake for 7 mins or until slightly golden brown.

Garnish: mint (optional)