Oct 24, 2012

Pumpkin season is in full swing, and this pumpkin soup is the perfect first course for any meal.  Use a hollowed out pumpkin as a bowl for a beautiful presentation. 
The aroma of roasted pumpkins and sage smells like everything I love about Thanksgiving – warmth, comfort, family and friends. 

If you can't find sugar or pumpkin pie pumpkins, acorn squash or butternut would work fine it it's place.  This soup can be made ahead and reheated when ready to serve. 

I went pumpkin picking a few weeks ago and and had so many sugar pumpkins, I knew I was going to use some as bowls.  Wouldn't this be beautiful on your Thanksgiving table!  Completely optional, but if you want to do this, look for small pumpkins, about 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 lbs, otherwise your bowls will hold too much soup.  To make the bowls, I followed this method only I roasted them 15 minutes longer.  You can do this a day ahead, then heat in the oven before serving to keep your soup warm.  I actually washed mine after using and they still look good. 

Heat the oven to 400°F.  Using a heavy, sharp knife, cut the pumpkins in half.  Scoop out seeds and place on a baking sheet; bake for 1 - 1-1/2 hours. When the pumpkin is cooked and cool enough to handle, use a spoon to scoop out the flesh.  This should make about 5 cups. 

Add butter to a large pot or Dutch oven, on medium heat; add shallots and sauté until tender, about 4 minutes.  Add garlic and cook an additional minute.  Add pumpkin and broth to the pot, along with sage, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  Simmer, covered for about 15 minutes. Blend in a blender or immersion blender and blend the soup until smooth. 

Cuisinart has a little blender that comes with a 3 attachments - an immersion blender, a wisk and a small food processor/chopper.  I think it was $30 at Bed,Bath and Beyond- best $$ I ever spent on a kitchen gadget.  I have a tiny kitchen- this is compact and multi-purpose, LOVE it! 

I ADORE squash and sage together!  Such a fabulous combo (just did a butternut pizza that combined similar flavors).  I'm also so impressed that you started with fresh pumpkin!  Do you feel like it makes a big difference in the flavor? 

Whenever I don't have time to roast a pumpkin for a recipe, I use this great "cheat"... Put the canned pumpkin in a skillet or saucepan with a wide bottom (the more surface area the better) over medium heat for about 10 minutes.  You'll need to stir it often.  The pumpkin should dry a bit and turn a darker orange.  It concentrates and caramelizes the sugars to give it a better pumpkin flavor, and it helps to eliminate the tinny taste from the can. 

I made this from can too and when I originally read through the comments (few weeks ago) I remembered you saying you cooked the canned pumpkin but misremembered how and done it in the oven.  It did well that way to.  So thanks for the tip.  Anonymous from 11/11/13,

What a great idea!  So cute.  In my country it remains me that we are used to eat sometimes soups from bread (you can imagine brown bread instead of pumpkin) :) The most used are mushroom soup and potatoe soup. 

YUMMY!  I just made a similar recipe after a conversation with my husband about how squash soups should be savory.  I added some parmesan cheese which makes it less skinny but sprinkling a little bit on top would be a nice treat. 

A note about CARVING PUMPKINS: Please don't use them for cooking/baking.  Most of the carving varieties are too fibrous and dry and are NOT yummy.  So take the time to find pumpkin or squash that has been cultivated for eating and you'll be glad you did! 

I cut open my carving pumpkin to make roasted pumpkin seeds and decided to roast the whole thing to see how it came out and I actually think it tastes pretty good!  The texture is different from the can, but the flavor is much better and it's plenty moist...

This looks fabulous!  I have canned pumpkin on hand and will try that first.  I'm veggie so I may try using unrefined coconut oil instead of the olive oil or butter...should be interesting!  Thanks for sharing this recipe with all of us! 

I made this tonight - my very first pumpkin dish from scratch and my very first soup - and it was delicious!  Gina, I absolutely love your site and recipes - I've been sending it/them to everyone I know who loves to cook!  You're awesome!! 

I love this recipe.. I made it once with dry sage (didn't have fresh) and loved it.. so today I tried it with fresh sage.. I went out and bought the shallots just for the soup... I didn't read the amount of sage it asked for and just put the whole package in it :( total disaster.. green, bitter soup haha, I was determined to fix it so I added a can of pureed pumpkin and some more broth.. it's edible, but I have to make it again with the right amount!  Thanks for your delicious recipes Gina! 

Hi Gina,Love your site.  It is a lifesaver for me with staying on weight watchers!  And my husband, a former pro chef, enjoys eating all the food I've made from your site!  Thank you so much for your lovely recipes.  I made this pumpkin soup recipe tonight with ingredients I had on hand and so I modified your recipe quite a bit.  I used 2 cans pumpkin puree and also added a large can of FAT FREE evaporated milk.  I didn't have sage so I used dry marjoram and dried thyme instead.  Garnished with a dollop of fat free plain yogurt on top and Parmesan shavings.  Yum!  It turned out great and took 25 min total! 

This was my dinner this evening.  It was incredibly good.  Once the pumpkin was well cooked and cooled, the skin of the pumpkin peeled right off.  It's so filling and yet so low in calories.  Fantastic find! 

Just made this tonight, and I felt as though it was lacking something.  I used a mixture of pumpkin and butternut squash and veggie + beef broth because that's what I had on hand.  I also used dried sage, two teaspoons.  I ended up adding sharp cheddar, brown sugar, and nutmeg to get a satisfactory flavor.  It was a good shot, but I probably won't be attempting this recipe again. 

I made this tonight for dinner for mom and I. Thirty six degree weather + hot Roasted Pumpkin Sage Soup = 2 thumbs up.  Yummy.  Mom said more spice would kick it out.  I told her since I was using dried rubbed sage I was afraid of using to much.  I will add a little more when I heat up the left overs.  I think I have another keeper.  Thanks Gina.