Saturday, February 4, 2012

Homemade Soup Day, Let's Celebrate

Hearing that National Homemade Soup Day was arriving I was wondering what Winter soup I'd make to have for a tummy warming treat for me & the Mister. I have to admit I'd eat soup almost any day of the year but we've had an unseasonably warm Winter here in Texas. I had to find just the right soup recipe to make since our temperatures have been so moderate of late. I have enjoyed African Peanut Soup many times & like the spicy quality as well rich creaminess of that dish. In an urge to avoid legumes right now at our house I opted for a more veggie based soup version with a slight nod to my favorite African Peanut Soups of the past. I used homemade pumpkin puree I had from oven roasting a Fall pumpkin. The flavors from oven roasting are slightly different from the canned version so if given the opportunity to use fresh please try it! Bowls up & enjoy National Homemade Soup Day today, February 4.





Pumpkin Soup
1 medium onion
2 stalks celery
4 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons grapeseed, coconut or olive oil
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 large can of whole tomatoes, do not drain
1/2 cup creamy almond butter or peanut butter
1 (29 ounce) can pure pumpkin puree (*or process your own pumpkin & freeze ahead of time in Fall)
1- 13.5 oz can coconut milk
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
salt & pepper
Directions:


Finely mince the onion and celery.
Either use a garlic press for the garlic or mince extremely fine.
Melt the oil in your stock pot and sauté the onion, celery and garlic for about 5 minutes or until soft.
Add the stock, followed by the remaining indgredients, whisking the mixture so it remains smooth.
Simmer for about 20 minutes and serve.


I served this soup topped with toasted pumpkin seeds & a sprig of fresh rosemary. I tossed the seeds with 2 tsp oil & stirred in Wasabi Fumi Furikake seasoning & roasted for 25 min @ 350 stirring every 5 minutes. The seasoning adds a different kick to the pumpkin seeds. Glad I tried it, I will certainly be utilizing the seasoning again. *Fall pumpkins never go to waste in my house.  We roast, stuff & re-purposed our pumpkins if not for us then for our wild critters.  See the re-purposed pumpkin below.
Fill a pumpkin with bird seed for a critter treat!

3 comments:

Reeni said...

Your pumpkin soup sounds incredibly yummy - especially with coconut milk in it! And I love your pumpkin bird feeder - so cute!

Tracy's Living Cookbook said...

What an interesting combo of flavors! I must admit that I'd don't turn to pumpkin often enough, which is weird, because I really like it! Our Michigan winter has also been warm, so not much soup here either.

Hornsfan said...

Looks good to me...good thing I've got pumpking sitting around waiting to be used :) might have to make myself a batch of this!