Pumpkin Soup, a Cost Effective and Delicious Meal on a Cold Winter Day.

I recently took the plunge and learned how to can Pumpkin.  At first glance, you might think "Why do that?, I can buy a can in the store when I need it".  It is a very valid thought.  However, as I have looked at what I can do with this, and the cost effectiveness of canning pumpkin, I am grateful that I took the time to learn, to try, & to experiment on the word.  Here is the process with my thoughts on how to do this. 

I plan on using my little bottles of orange goodness for many things.  Here is one recipe that I tried....and it was great!

What is it?  Pumpkin soup.  I found the recipe in my my trusty "The New Pillsbury Family Cookbook" that was copyrighted in 1975.   Yes, this cookbook has been around for a while. I looked on Pillsbury website for this particular recipe, but it wasn't really there.  However, I found several that I really would like to try in the future that looked delish!

Pumpkin Soup (Pillsbury) 

(With the Little Red Hen's suggestions in red of course)

4 Cups cubed raw pumpkin

1/2 Cup butter or margarine

1/2 Cup water

3.5 to 4 cups (about 26 oz) chicken stock (see my suggestions below)

2 stalks celery, cut into pieces

1 medium onion, quartered,

3 sprigs parsley or 1 tablespoon parsley flakes

1/2 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon powdered thyme

1/2 cup dry white wine or sherry (I skipped this step)

1 teaspoon salt

Pepper

The directions tell you out cook your pumpkin in butter then simmer with 1/2 cup water for 30 minutes.  I skipped this step and used my canned pumpkin.

The remainder of the ingredients are used to make a broth.  Simmer them for 30 minutes.  I used my Chicken Flavored soup base, but also could have used my powdered bouillon for the chicken stock.  Having food storage staples gives me many options.  I hate to have my choices restricted:). 

The instructions suggest that you strain out all the vegetables and just use the broth. The next step is to add the pumpkin and simmer for 15 minutes.  I refused to throw out all those simmered vegetables.  I removed the bay leaf and kept them all.

The suggestion was to blend the soup contents in the blender.  All I could think of was "what a hot mess".  Instead, I pulled out my stick blender  and went to work.  I found that tilting my stick blender slightly allowed for the larger chunks of the vegetables to be pureed.  

Doesn't it look beautiful as a puree?

I served this delicious soup with salad.  It was a cold day and this was a welcome meal by all.  Rooster Junior even helped himself to seconds.  

Time:  

After chopping the vegetables, which really didn't take long, the time involved was the simmering (about 45 minutes total) and the blending (about 5 minutes). Most of the time this was simmering, I was doing other things, so the hands-on time was very short.

Cost:

I made this soup, I believe for under a dollar.  The Salad (for 4 people) was approximately about $1.58 as the lettuce was $.83 for the head of Romaine, ~ $.75 for grape tomatoes and Onions from my garden. Yes, they are still there and usable in January.    Salad Dressing came from my pantry, (but a couple of tablespoons to me are inconsequential at this point).  Total cost for this meal for 4 people was a whopping $2.58!  

It does pay to can and use these foods as convenience foods when you are cooking.  

Try it!