Autumn Winds And Pumpkin Soup.

Indian summer’s over, leaves get blown off the trees by autumn winds and days shorten.

Autumn may be here to stay, but don’t you just love the earthy smell when taking a nice long walk through the woods, searching for chestnuts and looking at the pretty colored leaves?
And of course that cup of steaming hot tea or chocolate milk with some whipped cream and bitterkoekjes to warm yourself after that refreshing walk in the woods.
At the end of this month people in various countries will be celebrating Halloween. More and more Dutch people are embracing Halloween, and of course that also means pumpkin carving!
But what to do with the pulp that comes out of the pumpkin? Throwing it away seems such a waste.
We have looked up a tasty recipe for pumpkin soup, so you can use the whole pumpkin!

Ingredients (4 servings):

1.2 kilograms of pumpkin
2 onions
2 toes of garlic
250 grams of carrots
3 tbsp of olive oils
2 laurel leafs
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 liter tap water
1 (vegetable) stock cube
2 drops of Tabasco
125 grams of crème fraiche (125 ml cup)

Instructions:

Cut up the insides of the pumpkin into large chunks, after removing the seeds and thready pieces.
Cut the onions and garlic into small pieces, clean/peel the carrots and cut them into slices.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan, and stir fry the pumpkin, carrots and onion for 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, laurel leafs and cumin. After that, add the water and stock cube.
Bring it to a boil and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the laurel leafs and use a food processor or hand blender to create a smooth whole, and add Tabasco, salt and pepper.
Use a small spoon to stir the crème fraîche a little to smoothen it. Use deep plates or bowls to serve the pumpkin soup, and put some crème fraîche on top of it. (Serving suggestion: Maggi on the table)

Eet smakelijk! – Enjoy!

(Recipe source: De Mooi Bernheze weekly newspaper October 1^st 2014 & Photo courtesy: Inspirerend Leven, Samen eerlijk eten, Eerstkoken.blogspot)

Tags: tea, bitterkoekjes, whipped cream, pumpkin, Maggi