Smoky pumpkin and potato soup with chile peppers

6 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
4 cups Cold water
2 larges Carrots
2 Stalks leafy rib celery
2 Green onions
1 Ripe tomato
1 Bay leaf
Cilantro
Basil leaves
Garlic salt and pepper
2 tablespoons Fresh minced ginger; or less
3 Anaheim chili peppers; (red and green)
1 pounds Pumpkin; seeded and cleaned
1½ pounds Idaho potatoes; scrubbed
4 Garlic cloves
Salt and pepper
¼ cup Chopped fresh cilantro; divided
1 tablespoon Peanuts; dry-roasted unsalted
2 tablespoons Half and half; cream
1 tablespoon Mashed potato flakes; if needed
3 Radishes; sliced for garnish
Pumpernickel bread

Directions

SOUP STOCK

SOUP VEGGIES

SOUP

TO SERVE

Chunk-cut the veggies for the stock. Put all of the soup stock ingredients into a large sauce pan or span soup pan and bring to a boil; boil about 3 to 4 mins. Reduce heat and simmer, cover ajar, for about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat the outdoor grill. Scrub the skins of the potatoes and the pumpkin. Do NOT prick the skins of either. Cut the potatoes once lengthwise. Cut the wedge of pumpkin into chunks about the size of the cut potato pieces so that all will grill at about the same time. Wrap the garlic cloves in foil. Place the potatoes, garlic, and squash on the grill cut side down; adjust the heat to prevent charring. Cover and cook for about 10 to 12 minutes. Place the peppers on the grill and turn the veggies over. Grill another 10 to 12 minutes; turning the peppers once or twice, to grill evenly. When the potatoes and squash are fork tender (25 to 35 mins), transfer to a cutting board to cool.

Meanwhile, remove the soup from the heat. Strain the stock; rinse the pan and pour the broth into it. Allow to cool while you continue. In a small food processor, roughly pulse-chop the nuts. Add chopped cilantro stems (only) and the half and half to the blender and puree to a coarse texture.

Pour that mixture into the soup stock.

When the veggies are cool enough to touch, cut out any charred bits; scoop out the flesh and roughly cut the potatoes and pumpkin into ¾" chunks.

Seed the peppers if you want, otherwise dice them, avoiding charred bits of flesh. Squeeze the grilled garlic into the soup stock and add the vegetables. Heat the soup to a simmer, stirring well to keep the milk from scalding and the nut flour from caking. Mash with the back of a smooth or use an emersion blender to coarsely puree the soup. Add the instant mashed potatoes if you want a thicker soup. Stir in most of the fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, reserving some for garnish. Heat thoroughly. Taste and adjust for pepper and salt. Serve in wide shallow bowls; garnish with cilantro and thinly sliced raddishes, which are not only colorful, they add crunch and flavor. Makes from 4 to 5 cups. As appetizer: Per ¾ cup 142 cals, about 1⅘ g fat. (10% cff) As a main course, it feeds 2 to 3: sliced pickled beets and delightful (sweet-sour) with this soup, as are Thai cucumber slices. Serve with fresh pumpernickle bread.

Cooking tips: You may want to add a little peanut oil or butter before serving. You could substitute 1% skim milk sweetened with NFDM powder; etc.

When pumpkin is out of season, banana squash is a good alternative. You could use rehydrated smoked chile peppers such as a pasilla which is a dried chilaca pepper; about 3" long, comes to a point, maroon. Do not let the veggies burn because you will end up with less pulp than you need.

~-patHanneman

Recipe by: Pat Hanneman (Riverside, CA) 1997 Posted to EAT-LF Digest by PatHanneman <kitpath@...> on Feb 16, 1999, converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.

Related recipes