There's something about a thick and creamy soup on a cold winter's day and this soup easily caught me by surprise when I first tried it. I never would have thought about making pumpkin soup until I discovered the amount of nutrients found in winter crops such as pumpkin and other squashes and so I decided to crack open our fall fairytale pumpkin and begin to make the purée and then the soup along with some pumpkin bread. Pumpkins are extremely high in beta carotene, vitamin C, A, E, iron, folate, all which support your immune system along with adding protection for eyesight, heart and skin health and can lower your risk to cancer. This underrated superfood helps keep you feeling satisfied after a meal and helps with your gut health and digestion! Not to mention, it's incredibly tasty!
I found this recipe on Pinterest when I was looking for a pumpkin soup, and I wanted something that was hearty and flavorful, and I loved this on in particular because of it's other simple ingredients such as carrots, onion, garlic, nutmeg and bacon! The nutmeg and bacon always makes the flavor so rich and smokey, which I particularly love in the colder months! Or if you're vegan, you can easily do without the bacon or heavy cream and it would still make incredible flavor! In this recipe I will also share how to make pumpkin purée from any kind of pumpkin although it is said that the smaller sugar pumpkins have the best flavor. I personally used a my fairytale pumpkin from fall, and I was amazed at how good it tasted as well as how long pumpkins last! You can expect pumpkins to last 2 to 3 months once picked from the vine as long as you keep them out of the sun or freezing weather. If you don't have any pumpkins on hand, you can also buy canned purée as well still for a great taste! You can double the recipe like I did or do a single batch I hope you enjoy this wonderful soup recipe and I would love to hear what you think of it too!
Ingredients
4 slices bacon chopped
1-2 tablespoons butter optional
1 medium onion diced fine
½ cup carrot shredded
1 clove garlic minced
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 ½ cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
15 ounces pumpkin puree
½ cup heavy cream plus extra for garnish
2 tablespoons parsley chopped and divided
½ cup croutons optional garnish
Instructions
Cook the baon in a soup pot over medium high heat, cook the bacon until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate, leaving 2 tablespoons of fat in the skillet. If the bacon grease is less than 2 tablespoons, add butter to make up the difference.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion. Cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the carrot and garlic and cook for 1 more minute until fragrant.
Add the chicken broth, brown sugar, bay leaf, thyme sprigs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
Add the pumpkin and heavy cream and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
Discard the bay leaf and using an immersion blender or regular blender, puree until smooth.
Stir in 1 tablespoon of parsley and pour into soup bowls. Garnish with cream, croutons, crumbled bacon, and remaining parsley.
Notes
To use fresh pumpkin, cut a small pumpkin in half and remove the seeds. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle some salt and bake 35-40 minutes at 350°F until tender. Scoop out the flesh and puree in a food processor. Or if using a large pumpkin, bake at 400°F for 40-45 minutes.
Milk can potentially curdle in hot soup. Heavy cream (or even coconut milk) is the best dairy to use in this recipe because the high-fat content keeps it from separating.
Leftover soup will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, and in the freezer for 8 weeks.