In this post, I’ll share with you a delicious, creamy Italian pumpkin soup recipe. It is a modern, a bit contaminated Italian recipe. And a perfect addition to your Halloween menu.
ITALIAN PUMPKIN SOUP
I love to make this Italian pumpkin soup from scratch as a welcome–fall seasonal recipe. Most of the time, I use the leftovers from our pumpkin carving night.
In Italy, we don’t have the canned pumpkin, and we are quite used to cooking from scratch. In this creamy soup recipe, which we call “vellutata“, the pumpkin gains many hues and flavors because it is cooked with potatoes and leeks.
“Vellutata” means velvety. To emphasize the smoothness and delicacy of this Italian soup.
HOW TO MAKE AND SERVE ITALIAN PUMPKIN SOUP
As mentioned earlier, the Italian pumpkin soup recipe is made with potatoes and usually something herbaceous or oniony: white or yellow onions, delicate shallots, or crazily aromatic leeks.
You can garnish it with freshly chopped herbs like parsley or sprinkle it with a tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese. Or even with a scoop of perfectly cooked basmati rice.
This time, I tried something new, a little contamination from here and there. I blended hazelnuts with curry powder and a little brown sugar: it was delicious!
Italian pumpkin soup
Ingredients
- 2 cups peeled pumpkin cut in big chunks
- 1 medium potato peeled and cut in pieces
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons leeks thinly sliced
- ½ shallot thinly sliced
- 2 cups light broth*
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 handfuls hazelnuts
- 1 teaspoon curry
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- salt
Instructions
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Place pumpkin and potato chunks in a bowl. Add the flour and mix to cover.
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Brown leeks and shallot in the olive oil, using a large pot. Add pumpkin and potato chunks and brown them for a few seconds. Add the broth, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat (until tender).
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Blend hazelnuts, curry, cinnamon, and brown sugar and set apart.
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Cream the soup with a blender.
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Salt to taste, add heavy cream, and stir.
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Serve the soup hot, sprinkled with the chopped curried hazelnuts.
Recipe Notes
I made my broth with minimum effort: I boiled a carrot, a shallot, a few sprigs of parsley and a few of thyme, 3 allspice corns and 3 of juniper.
Enjoy your Halloween soup!
Claudia