Creamy Potato and Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

Potato croutons (Note 1):

450 g potatoes 1 lb

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon red chili flakes

½ teaspoon dried rosemary

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Pumpkin and potato soup:

1 kg pumpkin 2.2 lbs, Note 2

800 g potatoes

1 onion large

2 garlic cloves large

2 tablespoons oil

1 liter vegetable broth 4 ¼ cups

1 sprig of rosemary Note 2

125 ml heavy cream ½ cup

2 tablespoons pepitas roasted

fine sea salt and black pepper

Instructions

Potato croutons:

Preparations: Preheat the oven to 225°C/ 440°F. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1.5 cm/ 0.6 inches cubes.

Season: Place them into a roasting tin and oil, chili flakes, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Toss well to coat all over.

Roast for 40-45 minutes, tossing the potatoes 2-3 times in between, or until they are crispy on the outside and tender inside. Tossing is essential to stop them from sticking to the pan.
In the meantime, prepare the soup.

Soup:

Halve the pumpkin and remove the seeds. If using anything else but Hokkaido, peel the pumpkin as well. Slice it thickly and cut the slices into cubes.

Vegetables: Peel and cube the potatoes. Chop the onion and peel the garlic cloves but leave them whole.

Sauté: Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Sauté the onions for 2-3 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic cloves, pumpkin, and potato cubes, stir and sauté for about 5 minutes.

Simmer: Add the stock and rosemary sprig and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer the soup, covered, for 15-20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.

Roast pepitas: In the meantime, roast the pepitas if they are not already toasted.
Blend soup: Remove the rosemary sprig and blend the soup with an immersion blender (Note 4).

Add the cream and reheat gently without letting the soup boil again.

Adjust the taste with salt and pepper. Serve the soup topped with roasted pepitas and potato croutons.

Notes

The potato croutons are optional but very recommendable.

Preferably Hokkaido pumpkin or butternut squash. Otherwise, use another flavorful pumpkin sort. Hokkaido doesn’t need to be peeled; everything else does.

Use 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary if you don’t have fresh herbs.

Nutrition Information: