Winter is finally here! Time to make soup. My hope is that my kiddos will think itʼs unusual and fun that we are cleaning out a pumpkin to eat it instead of make a jack-olantern. Iʼm not promising anything, but a momʼs gotta try. This is my revised version of Roast Pumpkin Soup that I found in Martha Stewart a few years ago.

Ingredients:

• 1 sm. pumpkin—the kind used to make a pie
• 1 onion—quartered
• 2 apples—quartered
• 2 cups yukon gold potatoes—roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• 5-6 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Instructions:

• Clean out pumpkin and cut into 2 inch pieces. DO NOT attempt to peel it. You will break your peeler or your wrist or both. Let the oven do all the work.
• Place pumpkin on a foil lined, greased baking sheet.
• Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper—generously.
• If you have your garam masala handy, add a dash of that too.
• Roast in a 450 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender when poked with a fork.
• Set that aside to cool.
• On the same baking sheet place the rest of the fruits and veggies and do the same olive oil, s/p drill as before.
• Second verse same as the first, roast until tender.
• While that batch is roasting and when the pumpkin has cooled down enough to touch peel the skin off and discard. 
• Once everything is roasty-toasty, place it all in a large stock pot.
• Pour 2 to 3 cups of stock and puree with an immersion blender until smooth.
• Add the rest of the stock and puree again.
• If it is too thick, just add more stock until it's just right.
• Bring to a simmer and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Sorry I don't have a better pic. We were all in such a hurry to slurp it down that I didn't get a chance to do things properly. You know what would have been really awesome with this? A little drizzle on top of sherry right before serving. Note—never EVER use cooking sherry. Or if you don't have sherry on hand a dollop of sour cream would be delightful as well.

This soup is just what the doctor ordered on a chilly fall day.

Enjoy!
Stephanie

Find more from Stephanie at www.hugskissesandsnot.com.