Whole Pumpkin Soup

So much milky goodness inside

This soup is fantastic. Due to all the heavy cream and cheese it should only be served during a large gathering.The recipe is adapted from Splendid Soups by James Peterson, who adapted it from a standard French recipe that only calls for heavy cream and cheese. He thinned it a bit and I thinned it a bit more and added a little something extra to the bread. Anyone looking to take their soup making to the next level should check out this book.

When picking a pumpkin make sure it’s around 11-13 pounds but will fit inside the oven. I suggest measuring the inside of the oven from the bottom rack to the ceiling to be safe. Or wing it, like I did, and almost have a problem.

That is a tight fit

Whole Roasted Pumpkin Soup

• 11-13 lb pumpkin
• 1 loaf French bread
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups Siss or mozzarella cheese shredded
• Salt/pepper

Cut top off pumpkin and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Season the inside with salt and pepper. Cut bread into 1/2″ thick slices and toast in the oven until golden brown. While hot rub each side liberally with a clove of garlic. Mix stock and cream together. Layer soup inside pumpkin as follows: A layer of bread, then cheese, season with salt and pepper and then add enough cream liquid to cover bread layer. Repeat until pumpkin is filled 3/4 of the way. Place lid back on pumpkin and put it on a baking sheet at the bottom of the oven. Bake at 365 degrees until flesh is cooked through and a knife passes easily through the top lid, about 1 1/2 hours. Be very careful removing pumpkin from oven. Serve soup scraping pumpkin flesh from the sides into the bread broth as you go. Be careful to scrape equally around the pumpkin or the sides will cave in and make a mess.

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