Cream of Pumpkin Soup with Cream, Nutmeg and Cinnamon

Preparing the pumpkin

1. Homemade cream of pumpkin soup should be made from a fully ripe pumpkin with deep orange flesh and a slightly sweet taste. If you can, buy a butternut pumpkin, it is even tastier. We usually use 15% cream, but 20% or more will work too. In that case use less of it by volume and add regular whole milk. If you want to reduce the calories, use a mix of cream and milk, or milk alone. As for additions, only ground cinnamon and nutmeg, and a little sugar if you really need it.

   

2. Peel the pumpkin and cut it into cubes. Peel it with a sharp knife, and don’t use a ceramic one, it is too fragile. Also remove the seeds along with the fibrous flesh. When the seeds dry out, roast and eat them. Don’t cut the cubes too large, so they have time to soften during cooking.

Stewing

1. Stew the pumpkin in butter until soft. Heat a frying pan over high heat and melt a piece of butter (1 tbsp) in it. When the butter is hot, add all the prepared pumpkin pieces and stir well. Fry for 2-3 mins, then reduce the heat to medium and cover the pan with a lid. Stew the pieces in the butter until they are soft. Try piercing them with the tip of a knife.

   

   While the pumpkin is cooking, you can add a sprig of rosemary and simply throw it away afterwards. It gives an aroma.

Puree

1. Let the pumpkin cool a little and put it into a blender with the spices. As soon as the pumpkin is done, let it cool for about 5 mins so you don’t burn yourself and can blend it comfortably. Transfer the pieces to the blender bowl, add a pinch of cinnamon and ground nutmeg and, if needed, just a little sugar.

   

3. Blend the pumpkin into a puree, adding the cream in small portions. Important: there should be no lumps or pieces, only a uniform pumpkin puree. The amount of cream is up to you. The soup should be about as thick as kefir. If you like, add more nutmeg and cinnamon. If you add sugar, brown is better. Pumpkin with cream will be very light, and dark sugar slightly changes the color of the dish.

   

4. Bring the soup to a boil. Pour the pumpkin and cream puree into a saucepan or the pan where the pumpkin was stewed and bring to a boil over medium heat. And that’s it, the dish is ready.

Serving

1. Ladle the soup into bowls. You can decorate it with a few drops of cream and lightly toasted nuts. When serving, you can add a teaspoon of butter. Serve it hot. It is very filling and healthy, a great breakfast.