Jeff made this to start off my birthday dinner.
Because the dry volumes in ounces don't measure well or convert well into cups,
he didn't have enough pumpkin for the soup. Instead he added extra celery,
onions and leeks and it turned out excellent. I would err on the side of more
dry ingredients if you are unsure. We froze the extra, leftover broth and used
in a different recipe for butternut squash soup.
6 oz chopped onions
5 oz chopped celery
3 oz chopped leeks
1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
1 oz unsalted butter
5 oz pumpkin flesh (scrape from inside of pumpkin or peel outside of pumpkin and
chop)
1 gallon of chicken broth
2 fluid oz white wine
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Saute the onions, celery, leeks and garlic in the butter in a large dutch oven.
Add the pumpkin, stock and salt and simmer until all the vegetables are tender,
about 40 minutes.
Bring the wine to a simmer. Add the ginger, remove from the heat, and steep
until cooled to room temperature, and then strain.
Strain the pumpkin soup and reserve the excess liquid. Puree the solids with
small amounts of liquid, enough to get the consistency you want (thick or thin).
The soup is ready to finish now or can be refrigerated.
Return the soup to a simmer. Add the gingered wine to the soup and season with
nutmeg and salt before serving.