Pumpkin soup with a pang of robust vitamins and flavor.
Enlightening solutions for soup creations.
Ever been at a loss with ideas about what to do with your pumpkin after Halloween? A great time of year to entertain pumpkin leftovers; while creating a way to re-purpose your Halloween, jack-o’-lantern, also known as hollowed pumpkin.
How about soup?
Suggestions:
Left-over pumpkin
Clean, and peel, with a regular potato peeler, remove the outer skin and scrape the inside excess fibrous texture, it looks like the strings. along with those wonderful pumpkin seeds
(pumpkin seeds can be cleaned, dried for a week, adding a hearty sprinkling of sea salt, and baked to desired color and crispness at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread evenly on your cookie sheet, over parchment paper, in your oven to get each seed baked to perfection.)
Back to the soup, clean your pumpkin, per above,
Chop and cook pumpkin in a pressure cooker, attaining a softened consistency.
In a frying pan:
(1/2 of each)
fry chopped celery, chopped parsnips, adding a little bit of butter or olive oil to your saute blend. Upon completion, the mix will have a resilient appearance.
Next:
add 1/2 cup of sliced onions
3 grated garlic cloves,
In a stock pot or pressure cooker:
add about a 1/4 a cup of each vegetable( once pressure-cooking is completed pumpkin shall be your dominant vegetable in your stock pot)
Add a few cups of vegetable stock or beef broth to overflow, along with 1/3 cup of fresh herbs of your choice; parsley, and cilantro, work best for this dish.
Cover and allow to simmer until all of your vegetables are soft, open your pressure cooker every 15-20 minutes making sure to stir your vegetables for more even cooking; also be cognizant of the broth, thus not cooking too high or too dry adding broth as needed.
Next, add your cooked vegetables into an electric mixer.
Replace the liquid mixture to your stock pot
Add two cups of heavy cream, or any heavy cream substitute of your choice.
Blend the combination and upon a soup-like consistency, simmer your soup and heavy cream, for 20 minutes on low flame for a nice marrying of spices, add salt, pepper, a small amount of grated ginger, my favorite ingredient for this soup, add fresh, ground nutmeg to taste.
(They sell whole nutmeg in the spice section of many stores and I always use a cheese grater and add to some of my soup recipes while they are simmering! )
Enjoy your pumpkin a little bit longer and enjoy your homemade pumpkin seeds too!
This recipe can be enjoyed served hot or cold.
Pumpkin nutritional benefits
Pumpkin is low in fat and calories and rich in disease-fighting nutrients such as:
Alpha-carotene
Beta-carotene
Fiber
Vitamins C and E
Potassium
Magnesium
Health Benefits of Pumpkin
The alpha-carotene and beta-carotene are potent antioxidants found in pumpkin and are pro-vitamin A. Carotenoids, meaning the body converts them to vitamin A. Vitamin A promotes healthy vision and ensures proper immune function. The beta-carotene in pumpkin may also reverse skin damage caused by the sun and act as an anti-inflammatory. Alpha-carotene is thought to slow the aging process and also reduce the risk of developing cataracts and prevent tumor growth. Carotenoids also boost immunity and lessen the risk of heart disease.
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