Recipe Courtesy of Chef Lisa Morgan
From the demo Halloween Treats
Ingredients
Soup:
Sugar pumpkin (or butternut squash), peeled, seeds removed (1 pound yield)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
fresh thyme from 3-4 thyme stems
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, diced
2 1/2 cups (approximately) chicken stock
sachet (black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf, 3 juniper berries, fresh thyme sprigs)
1/2 cup (approximately) reduced apple juice (if necessary)
Garnish:
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper*
1/4 teaspoons piment d’espelette*
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds,roasted and salted
crème fraîche (as needed)
* as written, this combination has a kick. My suggestion is to add 1/8 at a time and taste it as you go…you may only want to use the espelette which is milder.
What to Do
• Prepare the Soup Flavor Base. Peel the squash and remove the seeds. Dice evenly. Toss with olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper and thyme. Place in a baking dish or sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Roast squash in an oven preheated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit until tender (or sauté on the stove). Check squash and toss occasionally to prevent the squash from sticking to the bottom of the baking dish. Remove from oven and set aside.
• Sweat Aromatics. In a large sauce pot, melt butter. Add onions and sweat until translucent.
• Add Soup Flavor Base. Add roasted squash to onions.
• Add Stock and Simmer. Ladle in warmed stock. Add sachet. Simmer until tender and flavorful.
• Puree and Strain. Remove sachet. Using an emersion blender (or food processor) purée until smooth. Strain through china cap to remove chunks and thyme stems.
• Simmer again. Return puréed soup to clean pot. Adjust consistency with stock (or water if flavor profile is good). Can add heavy whipping cream if desired.
• Add Seasoning. Add more salt or pepper if necessary.
• Prepare Cream Cheese Garnish. In the oven, or in a small saute pan over the stove, toast pumpkin seeds. Set aside. Mix cayenne and piment d’espelette with cream cheese. Add toasted seeds to cream cheese mixture (do this right before you serve or the seeds will loose their crunch).
• Plate. using a small spoon or ice cream scoop, place a small scoop of cream cheese mixture in individual bowls (or pumpkin shells). Add soup.
• Spiderweb garnish. Fill a pastry bag (or squeeze bottle)with crème fraîche and squirt a small circle in the top middle of soup and 2 circles around center circle. Moving from the center of crème fraîche to the side of the bowl, drag a toothpick across the crème fraîche circles in 4-5 places to create spiderweb.
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