Pumpkin Curry Soup

All washed and ready to be made into soup.

Our next door neighbors are a really nice older German couple that have a beautiful garden. They gave us buckets full of apples this fall, and one day, the husband brought this lovely pumpkin to us. The husband may very well be Santa Claus. He has a beard, a twinkle in his eye, and he's one of the nicest people I've ever met. He doesn't speak any English, but with his friendly determination to communicate, and my very, very basic German skills, I came to understand that this Kürbis (pumpkin) was from his garden and it was the kind that's good for eating, not carving. And so, I decided that I would use this pumpkin for soup to take to our ward Halloween party. I had made this soup earlier and loved it, so I was excited to make it again. This pumpkin was the perfect size for a double batch of the soup. Here's the recipe.

Pumpkin Curry Soup

(4 to 6 servings)

2 T. butter

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. curry powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 cups pumpkin puree (or 1 15 oz. can)*

3 cups vegetable or chicken broth**

1 1/2 cups evaporated milk (1 12 oz. can)

*I like to add a little more pumpkin to make it thicker.

**I've just used water before and it's still yummy. Just add more salt and seasonings.

In a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in butter. Add the curry powder, salt and pepper. Then add pumpkin puree and broth. Simmer. Puree in blender to make a smooth soup. Add evaporated milk just before serving.

For the party, I cooked the soup on the stove, blended it in batches, and put it in the crockpot on low to stay warm until the party. Now, just as a warning, getting this soup to the party in the crockpot was quite the adventure. I held it on my lap on a baking sheet on top of my jacket while hub drove. The crockpot wasn't even very full, but every little bump made soup slosh all over the place because it's not a very thick soup. If I ever take this soup anywhere again, I'll use a sealed container. By the time we got to the church, my jacket was out of commission for the night.

In my opinion, a bowl of this warm, spicy soup with some bread to dip in it, is the perfect meal on a cold day. I'm sure I'll be making this soup many more times this fall and winter because it's so easy.