I had a lone sugar pumpkin that has been serving as decoration on tables all over our house this fall. I love little sugar pumpkins – they are small and cute, but gloriously orange and fall like! Plus like all great winter squash, they store very easily for a long time, so you can buy one when you feel the urge then cook it when you feel the urge – no rush! A sugar pumpkin is the best pumpkin variety for cooking – it sweet & rich in flavor. Plus it is smaller & more manageable than the pumpkins we typically carve for Halloween. If you can, buy a few of these small sugar pumpkins when you can. I often get them for less than $1/lb. and they keep for weeks if not months.

During this past week I needed a bit of vegetable stock for a sauce I was making. Since I only needed a small amount, I had about 2 qts. left over. Veggie stock + a sugar pumpkin + a few friendly apples were all lurking in my kitchen, so soup night frequented us again. Its a good thing Brad loves soup! The sweetness and depth of the sugar pumpkin melded beautifully with the apples. No sweetener was used but there was a mellow sugary sense to the soup. I paired my soup with blue cheese toasts – to me, the pungency of the blue cheese with the gently sweet soup was perfect! Even though I love the pumpkin, butternut squash or sweet potatoes would work beautifully here too.

Ingredients:

• 1 sugar pumpkin, about 3 pounds
• 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 apples, chopped (I used Pink Ladies but whatever you like will work)
• 1 t fresh thyme
• pinch of cinnamon
• 2 qts. of vegetable stock

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Cut pumpkin in half and remove seeds and strings. Rub with olive oil and place face down on a baking sheet. Tuck the garlic cloves into the pumpkin cavities. Roast in oven 45 minutes to an hour, until the pumpkin skin is soft to the touch.
3. Set aside to cool then scoop out pumpkin flesh when able. Press the garlic cloves to separate the roasted flesh from the skins.
4. In a soup pot, warm a few teaspoons of olive oil (or half olive oil & half butter) over medium heat. When melted, add the onions. Sprinkle with salt & pepper then cook for several minutes until onions begin to soften. Add the apples, garlic, thyme, and cinnamon. Continue to cook until apples & onions are softened and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the pumpkin flesh to the soup pot, then add the stock. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Once the soup boils, lower to a simmer and partially cover. Cook for 25 minutes, until apples are nicely softened.
6. In batches, us a ladle to transfer the soup to a blender. Blend until smooth. Once all the soup is blended, return to the pot and simmer for a few minutes to combine.
7. Serve hot!

I’ve made no secret that I love vegetable stock! Its quick, tasty, super easy, and healthy. What’s not to like???

To help kick off 2008, here is a fresh version where I roasted the vegetables before making the stock. The results were a richer flavored and more deeply colored stock! This recipe does take an additional 30-60 minutes to roast the veggies though, so plan ahead if you want to make soup the same evening.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 onions, quartered but no need to peel
• 4 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (~1″ chunks)
• 4 celery stalks, roughly chopped (~1″ chunks)
• 1-2 potatoes, scrubbed and roughly chopped (~1″ chunks)
• 6 cloves of garlic or 3 shallots, unpeeled
• 1/4 c. dried shitakes (optional)
• 10 sprigs parsley
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 10 peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Combine onion, carrots, celery, potato, and shallots or garlic in a roasting pan. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper, then mix to coat. Roast for about 45 minutes or until veggies have developed a brown color. Mix several times while cooking.
3. Meanwhile add 1-2 c. of boiling water to the mushrooms to soften them.
4. Transfer the vegetables to a stock pot. Add all remaining ingredients (including mushrooms and their liquid) and 2 qts of water. Bring to a boil.
5. Add 2 c. of water to the roasting pan and place over high heat on the stove. Bring to a boil and scrape up all the bits of veggies that stuck to the pan. Add up to 2 more cups of water as needed. Add the total of 4 c. water and the veggie scrapings to the stock pot as well.
6. Once the stock begins to boil, partially cover and lower heat to a simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes until veggies are soft.
7. Strain and discard all vegetables and herbs. Use immediately or allow to cool then refrigerate.