Pumpkin soup topped with a sweet pepper and olive oil garnish.

Basic recipe (more or less);
Cut and clean pumpkin, remove outer skin and cut into chunks or cubes.
Place pumpkin pieces in large pot. Cover with water or your favorite soup stock for a richer flavor (chicken or vegetable stocks works well). Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until pumpkin is tender. As the pumpkin softens it will begin to break down and you’ll notice that your liquid is starting to thicken. Us an immersion blenderto puree the pumpkin and stock mixture into a velvety smooth soup. Flavor as desired. You can add more liquid if you think your soup blend is too thick or continue simmering for reduction to thicken.

We’ve found that heirloom pumpkins offer much better flavor then the standard orange carving pumpkins so choose one that looks interesting to you and give it a shot. Also, don’t forget to save the seeds for making toasted pumpkin seeds.

Just like eating any other seasonal fruit or vegetable, eating pumpkin in the fall and winter offers many wonderful health benefits, plus it makes for a really great warm and satisfying meal on a cold day.