Pumpkin/Squash Soup

What to do with an unknown pumpkin/squash found in the backyard...Well, it's an abnormal situation.  I am pretty sure most people know what they are planting in the backyard, but that's what happens when all of the seeds are labeled in Chinese.  It is definitely more of a gourd than a melon, so we decided to go with a pumpkin soup.  The recipe I used is from Nagi at Recipe Tin Eats: https://www.recipetineats.com/classic-pumpkin-soup/.  The recipe seemed well-liked, quick, and simple.  For reference, this means it didn't require using the oven or more than one pot.  It also took less than an hour, which is pretty good for soup!

Recipe

I've included the recipe below with the changes we made.  All credits go to the original recipe, which is linked here: https://www.recipetineats.com/classic-pumpkin-soup/.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.2 kg/2.4 lb 5 lb unknown pumpkin or squash, unpeeled weight see Note 1
• 1 onion powder, sliced see Note 2
• 2 garlic powder cloves, peeled whole see Note 2
• turmeric powder, see Note 2
• cumin powder, see Note 2
• 3 cups vegetable or chicken broth/stock, low sodium
• 1 cup water
• salt and pepper
• 1/2-3/4 cup cream, half and half or whole milk see Note 3

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut the pumpkin into 3 cm/2.25" slices.  Cut the skin off and scrape seeds out.  Cut into 4 cm/1.5" chunks.
2. Place the pumpkin, onion, garlic, broth and water in a pot - liquid won't quite cover all the pumpkin.  Bring to a boil, uncovered, then reduce heat and let simmer rapidly until pumpkin is tender (check with butter knife) - about 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and use a stick blender to blend until smooth.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper, stir through cream (never boil soup after adding cream, cream will split).
5. Ladle soup into bowls, drizzle over a bit of cream, sprinkle with pepper and parsley if desired.  Serve with crusty bread!

NOTES:

1. As I mentioned we used an unknown gourd.  I know 5 lbs seems like a lot, but no I did not double the recipe.  The gourd had a few blemishes so large chunks had to be taken out.  The skin was also pretty thick, and quite a lot of the flesh right inside of the skin was green.  I assume it probably weighed around 2.5 lbs after peeled and seeded, but we forgot to re-weight it.  Either way, it fit in the pot and the liquid almost covered the top so I didn't change the broth or water measurements.  The gourd was orange with a little green as you got closer to the peel.  It sort of looked like a cantaloupe, especially after it cooked for a little bit.
2. We did not have onions or garlic handy, so we used powdered versions.  I also added turmeric and cumin for some extra oomph.  Of course, I eyeballed everything.
3. We used whole milk a) because it was in our fridge and b) because we were making this after dinner to be refrigerated and heated at a later date.  For this reason, we did not use cream of any sort.

Review

 I thought it turned out great and I would definitely use the recipe again!  Yes, I'm sure a roasted pumpkin soup would also be delicious, but this soup was plenty yummy and had the perfect consistency for pumpkin soup.  It was also a great way to use an unknown gourd from the backyard.  Some pumpkin soups use holiday spices (cinnamon, cloves, etc.) and are a little sweet, but this recipe went the savory route which is much safer when you don't know what the gourd will taste like.  In the end, we came out with 3 16oz containers of soup.