Easy Pumpkin Soup
After our little North Carolina adventure, I arrived back in Richmond just in time for this month’s cooking club dinner. A quickly growing group of us girls gather together once a month and cook dishes based on a theme. It’s a great excuse to sit around, sip a nice glass of wine, and chat about all of the (semi) important things in life.
This months food theme, not surprisingly, was pumpkin.
I wasn’t really planning on blogging this recipe, because to be quite honest, I’m not a huge pumpkin fan. I know, maybe I’m crazy, but regardless, I followed the cooking club rules and cooked with pumpkin. These recipe actually turned out pretty well considering I just used things I had on hand. I think if you’re a pumpkin fan, you’d definitely enjoy this. It’s creamy and rich, but still qualifies as a healthy dish. So if you’re a pumpkin addict, try it!
Easy Pumpkin Soup
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1/2 medium white onion
- 1 tbsp fresh sage
- 2 cups pureed pumpkin (canned is fine)
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 1/2 cup cream cheese
- 1 cup 1% milk (or almond/soy milk)
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
Heat the oil in a large pot. Stir in diced onion and sage, and cook for a few minutes until the onions begin to soften, and the sage begins to wilt. Add in the pumpkin and vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Add in the cream cheese, and stir with a whisk until melted. Pour into a blender, and pulse until mostly smooth, or use an immersion blender in the pot. (I don’t have an immersion blender so I just put it in my Vitamix.) Cook over low heat. Gradually stir in the milk and brown sugar. Serve warm.
I was actually surprised at how much I loved a lot of the pumpkin dishes. One girl made a pumpkin chili (and even made me a separate vegetarian version!) and another girl, who just so happened to be a pastry chef, made some amazing cookies. Maybe I can track down those recipes as well…
Given the craziness of the holidays, we may cheat next month and go out for dinner… but it’s been fun getting challenged with different recipe themes!
you’re not crazy — I think people really like pumpkin pie spices more than the actual pumpkin! on it’s own, it’s really not that great, haha. this soup looks awesome though! and easy 🙂
you had me at easy.. haha that sounds bad, but i mean easy and pumpkin are good together!!
Have you ever just popped open a can of pureed pumpkin and dug in with a spoon? Yep, I do that all the time!! 😀
Hahaha I have not! Clearly, I’m missing something 😉
I normally have pumpkin all year around because I just love it that much. Mostly I use it for baking and oatmeal and such but I haven’t tried it as frequently in savoury dishes like soups and chilis! This recipe looks delicious!
I have used it in baking and loved the results, mostly because it makes everything so moist and delicious!
a cooking club sounds like a so much fun 🙂 i’m on the pumpkin bandwagon, a little ‘green eggs and ham style’ – i would eat pumpkin on a boat, with a goat, on a train.. you get the idea 🙂
Haha you are so cute! I was just telling my boyfriend about how much I’ve been enjoying your blog, and how it could convince me to move to Minnesota 😉
I eat pumpkin on a regular basis year round but wouldn’t say it is because I am a pumpkin addict. I like it for bulking oatmeal or desserts or even my yogurt parfaits. It is delish with a sprinkle of cinnamon and I like that it is healthy. I don’t like pumpkin pie though.
It does seems like a good vegetable to sneak in to other things! I’ve enjoyed baking with it so maybe ill stick to that 😉
Trust me: you’re no more crazy than me being a blogger who likes neither [green or else] smoothies, quinoa nor mustard. So if you considered me weird for any of these, well, then I might have to call you crazy for not being crazy about pumpkin ;).
That being said the soup sounds delicious. I’m a fan of keeping it simple when it comes to pumpkin sounds and not go all out with a ton of spices or add-ins.
What?! No smoothies?! 😉