This was, in theory, meant to be a butternut squash soup. But I could only get pumpkin in my produce basket this week, so I made it with that instead. And then I was a bit shy on pumpkin, so I tossed in a lonely sweet potato that I had left over from another recipe to make up the difference. So, all-in-all, maybe not quite the same soup that the recipe authors had in mind, but it was tasty nonetheless.

And using the pumpkin worked out nicely because then I had freshly roasted pumpkin seeds to use as garnish. The original recipe called for roasted, salted pepitas (which are just shelled pumpkin seeds anyway). I had some shelled pumpkin seeds in the freezer. But I figured, rather than trying to roast and salt them, it'd probably be easier and more efficient to just use the freshly harvested in-shell seeds. They're a bit different texturally, but they still provide some nice salt and crunch, so I think it worked out well.

The original recipe was mean to be a small batch, "cooking for two" recipe. But since I wanted to use up the whole pumpkin in one go (and have enough soup to serve all three of us + have some leftovers), I just doubled all the quantities.

Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Soup

Adapted from Cook's Country December/January 2021

Ingredients

• 1 pie pumpkin (~900g)
• 2 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil, divided
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 3/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground, divided
• 1 sweet potato (~200g), peeled and cubed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp. dried sage
• 4 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/2 c. crumbled blue cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
2. Halve the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds and "guts". Reserve the seeds.
3. Brush the pumpkin halves with 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil and place cut-side-down on a baking sheet.
4. Roast at 220°C (425°F) for 30-45 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
6. Meanwhile, reduce oven temperature to 150°C (300°F) and toss pumpkin seeds with 1 tsp. of olive oil, 1/2 tsp. of the salt, and 1/2 tsp. of the pepper.
7. Roast the pumpkin seeds at 150°C (300°F) for half an hour, stirring and turning every 10 minutes.
8. Once the pumpkin has cooled enough to handle, remove the flesh from the skin. Discard the skin and reserve the flesh.
9. While the pumpkin seeds are roasting, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. of olive oil over medium-low heat.
10. Add the onion and sweet potato and cook, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes.
11. Add the garlic and sage and cook for another minute or two.
12. Add the stock, pumpkin, and remaining 1/4 tsp. of salt and 1/4 tsp. of pepper and bring to a boil over medium heat.
13. Reduce heat medium-low and simer, covered, for ~15 minutes.
14. Remove from heat and blend until smooth with an immersion blender.
15. Stir in cream.
16. Serve garnished with blue cheese and pumpkin seeds.