Sam's Pumpkin Soup
Q: At twenty-four years old, your passion for cooking inspires many. How did you get into cooking?
A: I went away to college and had to eat dorm food my first year. I realized that my sophomore year it was a necessity for me to have a place where I could cook my own healthy food.
Q: Do you cook everyday?
A: Yes, I do cook every day. I also like to have leftovers in the freezer as it’s a good way of pretending you cooked that day, when it’s actually your work from another day.
Q: Do you pay attention to the seasons when you cook and why?
A: Yes, I follow the seasons when cooking. I feel it’s cheaper and seasonal food always tastes better.
Q: What do you enjoy most about cooking?
A: For me, cooking is a meditation. My mind kind of goes into a blank space of “no thinking” during the process and this is a relaxing feeling.
Sam shares his own recipe of beautiful and delicious Autumnal pumpkin soup.
Enjoy.
1 small to medium pumpkin
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 to 2 pounds mixed root vegetables ( carrots, parsnips, potatoes, rutabaga, turnips, etc)
1 onion
bay leaf, thyme or any herbs you have laying around
stock or water
1/2 cup heavy cream
bread to serve
optional garnishes ( drizzle of olive oil, squeeze of lemon, parmesan cheese, finely chopped thyme)
Here’s how you do it:
Cut off the top of the pumpkin and save the top to use as a lid. Scoop out the inside/ seeds ( you can save seeds to roast with salt and olive oil). When the pumpkin is clean, scoop out as much pumpkin meat as possible without breaking through the skin. Add the pumpkin meat to a larger bowl. Set the pumpkin and lid to the side.
Heat your butter with a drizzle of olive oil in a large soup pan. Chop your onion, add to the pan and saute until tender. Chop your root vegetables to all roughly the same size, add to the bowl with pumpkin as you go. If you have some white wine open pour a splash into your onions, let it reduce, then add your root vegetable and enough stock or water to just cover the vegetables. Add herbs, if using.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about an hour. Give it a stir halfway if you want. Add stock or water if it is drying out too much.
Remove herbs. Let the soup cool slightly and transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. You might have to work in batches or use an immersion blender (if you have on). Once your soup is pureed, put it back in your pot and reheat gently and add cream. Salt and pepper as needed.
Ladle the soup into the pumpkin, put the lid on and serve. I like to serve with bread at the table and garnishes if desired.
