Pumpkin and Porcini Soup

This delicious soup recipe comes from the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. It calls for canned pumpkin, but check out this video tutorial on steaming and pureeing your own pumpkin for use in recipes. Using fresh pumpkin adds water, which can be tricky when baking a pie, but just perfect when making soup. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4-6 servings:
1/2 C broken dried porcini mushrooms (about 3/4 ounce)
2 C boiling water
2 large onions, mined (about 3 cups)
2 T vegetable oil, olive oil, or butter
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 C chopped fresh mushrooms
1 t fresh thyme (1/2 t dried)
1 1/2 T fresh sage (2 t dried)
dash of nutmeg
1/4 C Marsala or dry sherry
1 T soy sauce
1 C unsweetened apple juice and 1 C water, or 2 C vegetable stock
4 C pureed cooked pumpkin
salt and ground pepper to taste
1 C milk or half-and-half (optional)

Preparation:

• Break up any large pieces of porcini. Pour the boiling water over the porcini and set aside to soak.
• In a soup pot on medium heat, saute onions in the oil until softened.
• Add garlic, fresh mushrooms, thyme, sage, and saute until mushrooms are soft.
• Then add nutmeg, Marsala, and soy sauce, apple juice, water or stock and heat almost to a boil.
• Stir in the pumpkin.
• Remove the pumpkin from the soaking water with slotted spoon and add them to the soup. Pour the soaking water through a coffee filter or paper towel to remove any grit, then add to the soup.
• Add salt and pepper to taste and the milk/cream if you like.

*This recipe would also be delicious using a combination of pumpkin and winter squash.

New Delhi Vegetarian Vegetable Soup

This light, but tasty recipe is from a cookbook titled Indian Regional Classics by Julie Sahni. I find it a little thin for my taste, so in addition to the vegetables she uses, I like to start the pot with a sauteed mirepoix (onion, carrots, and celery). I find a few shakes of soy sauce adds some depth as well. If super spicy is not your scene, reduce the ground red pepper accordingly as this recipe is fairly hot.

Serves 6

1 2-lb. head cauliflower
2 med. potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups chopped peeled tomatoes, fresh or canned
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground red pepper
2 TBLS vegetable oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
3 cups water
1 cup frozen peas
Coarse salt and black pepper
1/2 lightly packed cup chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems

1. Trim the cauliflower and cut it into florets. peel the stems and cut them in to small pieces. Combine the cauliflower, potatoes, tomatoes, turmeric and red pepper in a bowl.

2. Heat the oil in a deep pot over medium-high heat. Add the cumin and cook until the seeds turn dark brown. Add the vegetable-spice mixture and water. Bring to a boil. lower the heat and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Add the frozen peas and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.

3. Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro and serve.