Pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors of fall. I love baking and cooking with the brightly colored gourd. In addition to baking my favorite chewy pumpkin cookies and making maple pumpkin dip, I also love trying out new pumpkin soup recipes. I recently experimented with coconut milk to make a super tasty pot of coconut milk pumpkin soup that I topped with toasted pumpkin seeds.

Ingredients

• 1 sugar pumpkin
• olive oil
• 2 shallots
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
• 2 cups of chicken broth or stock
• 2 cups of unsweetened coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon plus extra salt
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
• toasted pumpkin seed oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Wash the pumpkin.
3. Remove the top of the pumpkin.
4. Cut the pumpkin in half.
5. Remove the pumpkin innards. Set the pumpkin seeds aside.
6. Coat the inside of the pumpkin with olive oil.
7. Place the pumpkin halves inside down on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
8. Bake the pumpkin for 45 to 50 minutes or until tender.
9. While the pumpkin cooks, rinse the pumpkin seeds in cold water.
10. Soak the rinsed pumpkin seeds in cool salt water.
11. Remove the cooked pumpkin from the oven.
12. Turn the heat down to 250°.
13. While the pumpkin cools, drain the salt water from the pumpkin seeds.
14. Toss the seeds in toasted pumpkin seed oil.
15. Spread the oiled seeds on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
16. Sprinkle the seeds with salt.
17. Bake the seeds for 30 to 45 minutes or until crispy. Stir every 5 to 10 minutes.
18. Scoop the cooked pumpkin from the rinds.
19. Peel and chop the shallots into small pieces.
20. Pour a little olive oil in the bottom of a large soup pot.
21. Add the chopped shallots and garlic powder to the pot.
22. Heat the pot for 5 minutes. Stir constantly.
23. Add the chicken broth or stock, coconut milk, pumpkin, maple syrup, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the pot.
24. Stir and cook over high heat for 10 minutes.
25. Blend the soup with an immersion blender. (Alternatively transfer the soup to a blender.)
26. Continue cooking the soup over low heat for a least 30 minutes. If the soup thickens too much, add more coconut milk as desired.
27. Serve the coconut milk pumpkin soup hot with the crispy pumpkin seeds.
28. Refrigerate any uneaten soup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image Credits

Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup Recipe © 2016 Heather Johnson
Pumpkin for Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Brushing the Pumpkin with Olive Oil for Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Baking the Pumpkin for Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Toasting the Pumpkin Seeds for Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Baked Pumpkin for Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Shallots for Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Chopped Shallots and Garlic Powder for Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Chicken Broth for Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Coconut Milk for Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Maple Syrup for Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Spices for Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Cooking the Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Stirring the Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Blending the Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Finished Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup © 2016 Heather Johnson
Coconut Milk Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Pumpkin Seeds © 2016 Heather Johnson