Recipe Provided by Susan Sink, the Tar Heel Foodie
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups roasted pumpkin
2 teaspoons dehydrated shallots
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 1/4 cups coconut or low-fat milk
1 – 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo peppers
Pinch mild Chimayo chile powder
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
Ground mixed pepper
1 teaspoon Murray River Flake Salt
Directions:
Your pumpkin should already be roasted. I don’t normally use olive oil for the pumpkin because it has so much moisture it seems to be fine without it. If you do use olive oil, it should still be fine for this recipe.
Take your dehydrated shallots and put them in a small saute pan and add a bit of water and about 1 teaspoon of butter. Bring it to a boil and then just keep reducing the water on medium heat. As the shallots hydrate in the water they will also cook in the butter. Cook them on medium-low until they are a bit soft and translucent. Should take less than 5 minutes on low. Set those aside.
Put your finely chopped celery into the pan with a bit of olive oil or butter and saute those until they are soft. I normally do this when the celery comes into season and freeze it. It keeps well and significantly cuts down on the time it takes to make most recipes. In a large dutch oven add the vegetable broth along with the roasted pumpkin, onions, celery and spices (leave out the salt until the very end) and let it simmer for about 15 minutes with the lid on the pot.
Heat the milk so it’s warm. Add it to the pumpkin and spices and then puree the entire thing in batches. Taste for spices and now begin to add the finishing salt, Murray River Flake. You can
also add more heat. The Aleppo peppers are mild. The mild Chimayo Chile is medium heat and if you want more heat you can add Guajillo Chile or additional Cholula hot sauce.
Notes:
I like to serve this with some fresh thyme on top with additional hot sauce. I used Cholula brand hot sauce.
You can also add about 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme or 1 teaspoon of fresh chopped thyme leaves into the soup.
If you don’t have dehydrated shallots, use about 1/2 of a good size shallot.
Caramelized onion would add some contrast to the sweetness of the coconut milk if you have them on hand.
If you don’t have vegetable broth on hand, you can substitute some powdered veggie broth with water.
This soup freezes well before you add the coconut or cow’s milk.