I know I sound childish and not at all like a sophisticated foodie when I say, “I hate pumpkin”. Maybe hate is too strong a word, but I have a strong dislike for it. Whenever we get roast dinner takeaways (best hangover food) I transfer my pumpkin pieces onto The Koala’s plate. The Koala loves pumpkin so he accepts it happily.
I say pumpkin, you say squash
Before I go further, I should mention that here in New Zealand, we call all things in the squash and pumpkin family simply, “pumpkin”. So when I say, “I hate pumpkin“, elsewhere, I would say, “I hate squash“.
Anyway, I know it’s good for you and when it’s in season, it’s everywhere. Since The Koala loves pumpkin and pumpkin soup, and since pumpkins keep appearing in our Foodbox, I’ve been experimenting with pumpkin soup recipes.
This recipe is for the pumpkin haters among us.
Spices
I’ve used garam masala and cinnamon, feel free to also try turmeric and ground coriander. Spices make pumpkin palatable. A little cream doesn’t hurt either.
Vanilla
I was recently invited to try a vanilla extract by a company called Queen. A single origin fair trade vanilla from Madagascar, their notes suggest a rich and woody profile with rum notes. Vanilla is traditionally used in baking and desserts but I thought this a well spiced pumpkin soup would work quite well. I’d love to try more savoury recipes using vanilla.
Pumpkin Soup for Pumpkin Haters
Serves 4 for dinner or 6 as starter
Ingredients
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pumpkin, deseeded, peeled and chopped (about 2kg / 4lb)
- 2 tablespoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1-2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup heavy cream (or milk)
- Roti to serve
Preparation
- In a large pot such as a dutch oven, fry onions on medium heat with a little oil, add the pumpkin and spices and fry for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add stock and enough water to *just* cover the pumpkin. Cover with lid and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add vanilla and whiz through with an immersion blender. Taste and adjust seasoning as required.
- Stir in a little cream or milk as desired (skip this for vegan).
- Serve with roti.
This post is part of Our Growing Edge, a monthly blogging event to encourage bloggers to try new food related things.
Hannah from Love The Little Bakery is the host for this month’s event. If you have a blog and you are eating or cooking something new this month, click below to join. More information here.
Bunny Eats Design 
I like pumpkin but only when it’s well spiced – definitely not the plain roast variety. We have quite a few pumpkin soup variations, but all of them have plenty of flavour added – my favourite uses peanut butter to give a satay vibe. Yours sounds intriguing (especially the vanilla) and we have a pumpkin in the fridge… Time to broaden our pumpkin soup horizons! 🙂
Peanut butter sounds interesting!
I’m not a huge pumpkin fan either…I’ve been debating a researching what to do for it this Fall because God knows these are far too many pumpkin-loving bitches out here.
We don’t eat pumpkin in sweets like you in ‘Murica, so spices aren’t generally used. I guess, I hide the flavour with spices but if it makes it palatable…why not?
Fair enough
Beautiful photos! Love your use of garam masala in this:)
Thank you! Garam masala is great with vegetables in general.
Looks amazing!
Thanks Crystal.
I must admit that I am not a huge fan of pumpkin (the Orange, Halloween kind) but I do love squash (spaghetti, butternut, acorn etc). The Chef at the cooking class in Lyon suggested vanilla in pumpkin soup, I thought it a bit odd but he said it was the only way his children would eat it. It added a very different flavour and change the soup completely for me. I must try it again, now that pumpkin season is once again upon us!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who uses vanilla in pumpkin soup. Must be onto something!
I also only like pumpkin when it’s well spiced. When not, it’s not that I hate it, I just find it boring. I only make pumpkin on halloween, actually it’s becoming a tradition in the Papaya Pieces household…
Hi Sofia! Spiced pumpkin is definitely a popular flavour. I look forward to seeing your Halloween pumpkin.
I’m not a fan of pumpkin either to be honest, but in soup form I don’t mind the taste!
This looks delicious! I’m definitely a pumpkin hater, but I will eat pumpkin soup… as long as it has lots of spices and good flavour so that I can’t taste the pumpkin!
My mum cooks pumpkin a few times a week – bite sized pieces sprinkled with salt and herbs, roasted in the oven. It look surprisingly delicious, but I still can’t bring myself to eat one haha!
I also love your idea of roti – do you make your own or buy it?
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Wow, that is confusing. I mean, there are so many types of squash calling it pumpkin messes me up. And for me, I rarely cook with pumpkin, but I often cook with squash. I like both winter and summer squash. Right now we are getting a lot of butternut squash. YUM! I think it was in October that we got some sugar pumpkins. So I just HAD to stuff them . . . . so yummy!
This sounds yummy, too!
We call those butternut pumpkin! Its just terminology.
If I wanted to make this vegan, what could I use to replace the heavy cream? It looks sooooo amazing! I love your blog btw! Lol, but I won’t eat too much in case I turn orange 😛
Hi Jasmine, to make this recipe vegan, I would use 1/3 to 1/2 cup of coconut cream. It would add a different dimension of flavour but still be delicious.