German Pumpkin Soup

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Take one of the pumpkins, cut it in half, and scoop out and discard the insides. Cut the pumpkin into fourths and peel off the skin with a potato peeler. The skin is very hard and this may take some time. There are other methods online that involve microwaving the pumpkin to soften it from the skin, but didn’t try it because I was weary of cooking the pumpkin in the microwave before cooking it in the pot. Once the skin has been peeled, chop the pumpkin up into roughly 2 inch cubes. Set them aside.

Now take the other pumpkin and cut off the top as you would with a carving pumpkin. Use a medium sized spoon to scoop out all of the seeds. Sprinkle some salt inside the pumpkin and place a tablespoon of butter or olive oil inside of it and place the cap back on. Place this pumpkin in a casserole pan and bake in the oven for 45-60 minutes, or until the inside of the pumpkin is fairly soft and the outside has turned a deep orange color.

Heat the fourth cup of olive oil in a very large pot. Add the onions and saute until nearly transparent, about 10 minutes. Then add the chopped pumpkin, potatoes, carrots and coriander. Allow to cook for 20 minutes, stirring every five minutes to cook the vegetables evenly. Then add the garlic, ginger, leek and tomato and allow to cook for 20 minutes, stirring every five minutes again.

Add the water, boullion cubes, paprika, salt, cloves and cayenne pepper and mix well. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes. Taste it and add more salt if you’d like, then ladle it into a blender or food processor and make a puree of the soup.

Ladel the pureed soup into the roasted pumpkin and serve it hot with a side of chopped bacon and an herb sprig for garnish.