Pumpkin Soup Again

The largest room in the world is the room for improvement. I offer a revision of the pumpkin soup recipe that appeared on this blog in 2010. It is revised to include, among other things, the big poison of our era, sugar. Ok, it’s real maple syrup from real maple trees, not the stuff that people put on their pancakes that is some kind of sugar with or without maple flavoring.

I acknowledge that sugar in various forms is responsible for a lot of chronic disease today, especially diabetes. I also acknowledge that a bit of sweetener greatly improves pumpkin soup, especially if the soup is made from canned pumpkin. It’s an improvement. Canned pumpkin is not as good as pumpkin off the vine, but it is easier to use.

Pumpkin Soup Revised

Serves 2-3 people

1 small pumpkin, or 1 can pumpkin (about 2 cups cooked)

1 ½ cups chicken broth or stock

About ½ cup chopped or diced onion and celery

1/3 cup heavy cream

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground sage, or more fresh sage

¾ teaspoon salt (salt is already in the broth, so be gentle)

¼ cup real maple syrup or other sweetener (or to taste)

If you need to cook the pumpkin, cut it in half, remove the seeds and roast it, cut side down, until it is soft. Scoop out the pumpkin and discard the shell.

Stir together the pumpkin and chicken broth. Puree this in a blender if you wish. Pour it into a saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat. Cook the onion and celery in it for a few minutes until they soften. Stir in the nutmeg, cinnamon, sage and salt. Mix well. Add the cream. Remove from heat and enjoy.