This is my all-time favorite pumpkin soup from our New York days. My friend Greg from Ithaca shared it with me. I made it the first time on a cold fall day in upstate New York and fell in love and since then it is an autumn regular in the Kelly household.

I make a lot of in one go and then freeze for when time is scarce (360 days of the year). John also likes to bring it work. This time around I used my old Connie’s Kitchen Ketchup bottles for storage. We have made the labels easy to peel off, if you don’t soak the bottles first. It’s great to get multiple uses out of this handsome bottle.

Ingredients:  (6-8 servings)

1 Hokkaido and 1 Butternut pumpkin (about 2.5-3kg), washed, deseeded and chopped into approx.  3x3cm cubes. (no need to peel the pumpkins)

5 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

2 heaped teaspoons of freshly grated ginger

2 tsp mild curry powder

2 tsp ground cumin (helps your digestion)

1/2 tsp sea salt and two dashes of black paper

2 twigs of fresh thyme or dried / frozen

approx. 1 liter of good chicken or vegetable stock (bouillon)

120ml white wine

optional: 120ml cream

Serve with bread croutons*,  pumpkin seed oil and toasted pumpkin seeds, or sour cream and thinly sliced scallions.

*chop bread (stale bread is good) into small cubes (0.5×0.5cm) and toast in a pan with 1 Tbsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt over medium heat until crisp, stir once in a while, about 10 mins)

Method:

1. Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a big pot over medium heat and soften garlic for about 2 mins until lightly golden (be careful not to brown the garlic, otherwise it gets bitter).

2. Add pumpkin and wine and let most of the white wine evaporate.

3. Add all other ingredients (except for cream if using) and simmer for about 20mins or until pumpkin is soft (The pumpkin should be well covered with bouillon).

4. Puree the soup in a blender and season to perfection. If it is too thick, add a bit more water.

5. Serve with either bread croutons or roasted pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of pumpkin oil, or with a dollop of sour cream and scallions.

Enjoy!