Let's Make Some Pumpkin Soup!

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This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client.

I love pumpkin and I regularly shop at Save Mart Supermarket, so this is a perfect match!

 *****

I adore pumpkins.

I love their shape - all crazy and round and perfectly imperfect.

I love their color - shades of orange like a magnificent sunset.

I love their flavor, rich and hearty and so perfect for Fall.

I typically use pumpkin in sweeter items,
(cookies, cakes, bread, pancakes, souffles) 
but I was really wanting to try my hand at creating a savory pumpkin dish.

When I head to Save Mart Supermarket (which I do almost daily)
this time of the year, I just love it!
It feels like a field trip to a pumpkin patch.
They have pumpkins everywhere!
Big ones, little ones, and my favorite -  pie pumpkins (sometimes called sugar pumpkins)!

My kids love food and love trying new things.
About 5 years ago we started buying the pie pumpkins
and making our own pumpkin puree. It is so good!
The day I shopped the Pumpkin Pie Pumpkins were on sale - 2/$4.00.
I of course purchased 4! 

Well, when I think Fall, I think rich and creamy soup...
so that is what I made - a delicious, hearty pumpkin soup that is good for you
(and vegan too - just don't add the Parmesan cheese like in my photo!).
Now, I still have pumpkins left...so something sweet is getting baked up too!

Ingredients
1 Pie Pumpkin, washed and baked (yields about 2 cups)
1 Medium red pepper: washed, seeds removed, and chopped into large chunks
3 Carrots: washed and cut into large chunks (I leave the peel on)
1/2 yellow onion: chopped into large chunks
1 small apple: washed, cored, and cut into slices
3 Roma tomatoes, sliced in 1/2"
3-5 cloves of garlic, smashed
3 cups+ Vegetable broth
3+ Tablespoons Olive Oil
1-2 teaspoon salt*
1 teaspoon (or to taste) ground black pepper*

*When I make this soup, I lightly season it. Everyone in my family has their own salt/pepper preference. But also, by doing this I can easily add new spices to the soup for each meal - think Curried pumpkin Soup!

Tools

• Knife
• Cutting Board
• 2 large baking dishes
• Measuring cup
• Measuring spoons
• Food Processor or High Speed Blender

Make It!

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Prepare a large baking dish (I baked 2 pumpkins at this time) by placing 1 cup of water in it. You may need to add more water, 1/2 at a time. I use the water in the pan to keep everything nice and moist.
• Cut the stem off of the pumpkin and then cut the pumpkin in half.

• Scrape out the seeds and "guts" 

• Place the pumpkin face up in the baking dish.

• Bake for approximately one hour at 350F
• You want the pumpkin to be  fork tender (meaning a fork easily can penetrate the pumpkin)

• At the same time, prepare a large baking dish by placing 1 Tablespoon in the dish and distributing it all over the (bottom) dish.

• After washing/slicing/preparing your peppers, apple, carrots, tomatoes, and onion place them in the prepared baking dish.
• Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt all over the vegetables.
• Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper all over the vegetables
• Add the garlic cloves to the dish- just all over
• Drizzle approximately 1-2 Tablespoon of olive oil over the vegetables.
• Bake for about 1 hour at 350F - the carrots will be the last to become fork tender.

• Once the pumpkin had baked completely, let cool slightly (so you can handle it) and scoop out the edible pumpkin goodness!

• NOTE: I started using a food processor for this soup...but mine is WAY TOO OLD and not pureeing the soup as well as i would have liked, so I switched to my high speed blender.

• Place the pumpkin in the blender with 1-1.5 cups of vegetable broth**
• Blend until smooth.
• Pour the pumpkin puree into another bowl.

• Now add the vegetables to the blender with 1-1.5 cups vegetable broth** 
• Blend thoroughly.

**If you like your soup thicker, use less broth. If you like your soup thinner, use more broth.

• In the large bowl combine the vegetable puree with the pumpkin puree and mix to combine throughly. ***

***You can use a large pot (on the stove) if you want to heat the soup up. I find that if I make the soup right away (as the pumpkin and vegetables come out of the oven), I do not need to heat the soup up again...but you can!

Now you have a delicous, healthy soup for those cold Fall days and evenings.

Serve it with some rustic bread, a sprinkle or Parmesean Cheese,

or some sour cream for a comforting meal.

As a regular Save Mart Shopper,

I am so happy that I can buy fresh pumpkins to create amazing recipes.

For some more creative inspiration be sure to check out The Save Mart Site

for more #FreshFinds, and look for more recipes and ideas at   

 Save Mart by following them on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Have you ever made your own pumpkin puree?

It is the best!

This post is written and created at 504 Main by Holly Lefevre   I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client.   Linking up to Not Just a Housewife