Spanish Pumpkin Soup Recipes, try these simple and delicious pumpkin soup recipes, pumpkin is Calabaza in Spanish and soup, sopa, adding cream makes it crema, also find out how to roast the seeds, so nothing is wasted.
Pumpkins are rich in nutrients, including vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, and potassium, and low in calories.....
Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
4 onions
1 kg of pumpkin
500 ml vegetable stock
250 ml double cream
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
The best pumpkins to use are the harder varieties such as butternut Sadly, those giant orange pumpkins that pop up once a year around Halloween are typically grown for colour and not flavour. Avoid overly large (mature) pumpkins or soft fleshed pumpkins are they will lack flavour.
Method
Peel the pumpkin, remove the seeds (set aside) and cut it into cubes, size doesn’t matter as everything will be processed later in a blender, but it can help it cook faster if they are smaller pieces.
Slice the onion and chop the garlic.
In a large saucepan add the tablespoon of olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook until golden brown.
Add the pumpkin and cook for about 2-3 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Add the seasonings and the stock, bring to the boil, lower the heat and, cook for about 15 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. If the amount of stock is not enough to cover the pumpkin just add water until it is covered.
once the pumpkin is tender, add the heavy cream. You could skip the heavy cream, but it wouldn’t be an authentic crema de calabaza.
Using a blender or food processor, blend until it has a smooth consistency.
Serve HOT garnished with pumpkin seeds with croutons of toasted bread with olive oil, or add a little grated Parmesan cheese on top.
Alternatives
To make it a roasted pumpkin soup recipe. Just roast the pumpkin in the oven for 30 minutes or until it reaches a tender texture, then boil it for 10 minutes with the broth.
Spanish Pumpkin Soup Recipes
Spicy Spanish Pumpkin Soup with Chorizo
Ingredients
60g/2 oz. chorizo (sliced)
1 kg/2.2 lb of pumpkin (peeled, deseeded, and sliced into inch cubes)
1 large onion (diced)
6 carrots (½ inch slices)
30ml/ 1 fl. oz. extra virgin olive oil
700ml/23 fl. oz. of vegetable stock
270ml/9 fl. oz. of Double cream
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of dried chili flakes
1.5 teaspoons of sweet paprika
Salt and black pepper to taste
Bread (for croutons)
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F
Using a large baking tray, lined with aluminium foil, add the cubes of pumpkin and a splash of olive oil. Mix the pumpkin so there’s an even coating of oil and cook in the oven for 45 minutes.
Remove the tray and add the carrots. Sprinkle the cumin, half of the sweet paprika, chili flakes, and a little more olive oil. Mix well and season lightly with salt and pepper. Return to the oven for 30 minutes.
Once the roast vegetables are ready, use a large pan and fry the onion with a little oil. Once the onion is golden, add the vegetable stock, the roast vegetables, and the double cream. Stir all ingredients well and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for around 5-8 minutes to soften all of the vegetables.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a blender. On a low setting blend until a rich creamy consistency. This should take around 2-3 minutes.
In a small clean frying pan, on medium heat, add half a teaspoon of sweet paprika and lightly toast the paprika. Add the remaining oil and mix well. Once the mix is hot add the slices of chorizo and cook for a minute or two. Allow just enough time for the chorizo to release some of the fat and oil.
For the croutons, cut up some fresh bread into 1-inch long wedges. Use tongs to gently press the bread wedges into the chorizo frying pan, soaking up some of the oil on one side. Once golden, they’re ready to serve.
To serve, pour the soup into bowls. Add a few chunks of chorizo to the middle of the soup and then use a teaspoon to drizzle some of the oil and juices from the chorizo pan onto the top of the soup. Season with salt and pepper and a few more chili flakes if you like it really spicy.
Vegan alternatives: Vegan coconut milk is a great option or any other vegan milk of your choice. To help it reach the same thick texture you can either add 2 tablespoons of vegan cream cheese or 3 tablespoons of flour.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
There is no need to waste these, turn them into a delicious snack.
Scoop the seeds. use a strong metal spoon to scoop as many of the seeds out of the pumpkin as you can. Be sure not to let the pulp dry before cleaning the seeds.
Soak the seeds. Place the seeds and pulp in a large bowl. Run water over them and use your hands to swish the seeds around, removing any noticeable bits of pumpkin. The flesh will separately more easily from the seeds this way. Drain off excess water.
Rinse the seeds. Place the clean seeds in a colander and rinse until any remaining flesh is gone.
Optional: Boil the seeds. Simmer the clean seeds in salty water for 10 minutes. (See below for why you should do this).
Dry the seeds. Drain the boiled/cleaned seeds in a colander and use a towel to dry the seeds as thoroughly as possible to ensure they get nice and crispy when baked.
Tip onto a baking tray lined with kitchen paper and pat dry.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Remove the kitchen paper and spread the seeds out evenly on the baking tray (or use two, drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with salt or seasoning mix and give them a good stir so that they are all coated.
Roast in the oven for 15–20 minutes, stirring them halfway through, until the seeds are toasted and golden brown.
Leave to cool on the tray, then pour into a bowl to serve. They will crisp up as they cool, so don’t try to eat them too soon!
Roasted pumpkin seeds can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks or in the fridge for up to two months.
Find lots more Spanish Recipes HERE
