Pumpkin Soup

Servings:

4 starters or 2 main dishes

Ingredients:

500g pumpkin

100g potato

½ carrot

1 small onion

1 clove of garlic

1½ cm ginger

1 tbsp oil

¼ tbsp paprika powder

¼ tsp cumin

¼ tbsp curry

100 ml dry white wine

500 ml vegetable stock or chicken stock

salt & pepper

garnish: balsamic vinegar, heavy cream, croutons

Preparation:

1) Pumpkin soup is a typical starter for the thanksgiving dinner. But it's tasty troughout all of autumn and can be even enyoyed as a main course.

2) First, heat up a non-stick pot and then dice some onions. When the pot is up to temperature, sweat the onions in some oil on medium heat.

3) In the meantime, wash the pumpkin, clean the cavity and cut it into cubes. Depending on which pumpkin you’re using, you might also have to peel it. I used hokkaido pumpkin, of which every part is edible, so I didn’t have to.

4) Also wash and peel a small potato and half a carrot and likewise cut them into small pieces.

5) When the onions turn translucent, crush a few cloves of garlic and grate some ginger into the pot.

6) Now you can also add the spices, such as cumin, paprika and curry powder and awaken them by toasting them a few seconds.

7) Shortly after, the vegetables can be added and seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

8) Then deglaze with dry white wine and let the alcohol evaporate.

9) Lastly, you just need to add some chicken or vegetable stock and let the soup simmer for half an hour.

10) When the vegetables have softened, it’s time to puree everything with a hand blender. Now you have to be careful that the soup doesn't attack you like it did me. It's best to turn down the temperature or cover the pot with a lid if you want to reheat the soup later.

11) After checking for seasoning and the right consistency (you might need to add some more stock), the soup is ready to be served!

12) It tastes especially delicious if you garnish it with some balsamic vinegar, cream and a few croutons. Also, buttermilk cloverleaf rolls really go well with this soup.

Nutritional Analysis of one portion as a starter:

energy 108,4 kcal water 295,5 g alcohol 2,8 g

Macronutrients Vitamins Minerals

carbohydrates 12,4 g vitamin B1 0,1 mg NaCl 0,7 g

dietary fiber 4,4 g vitamin B2 0,1 mg sodium 808 mg

monosaccharides 5,0 g niacin 1,0 mg chlorine 474 mg

disaccharides 1,8 g pantothenic acid 0,6 mg calcium 56,9 mg

protein 2,9 g vitamin B6 0,2 mg magnesium 28,0 mg

fat 2,7 g biotine 1,1 µg potassium 706 mg

SAFA 0,4 g folic acid 43,6 µg phosphorus 95,1 mg

MUFA / PUFA 0,6 g / 1,6 g vitamin B12 0,0 µg sulfur 35,2 mg

linoleic acid 1,5 g vitamin C 16,7 mg zinc 0,6 mg

linolenic acid 0,1 g vitamin E 2,9 mg copper 0,2 mg

cholesterol 0,0 mg vitamin D 0,0 µg manganese 0,3 mg

vitamin K 54,4 µg iron 2,0 mg

vitamin A 370,8 µg iodine 7,4 µg

carotene 1,6 mg

* the relative amounts show the percentage cover of the recommended daily nutrient intake (calculated for me personally, the values may differ for you depending on sex, age, height, weight and activity level)

** this recipe is inspired by a german blog about american food: www.usa-kulinarisch.de