Roasted Pumpkin Soup

This dramatic soup was inspired by a recipe from Paul Bocuse, who loads an entire pumpkin with heavy cream and bakes it. This version has some cream replaced by broth, which isn’t as rich but still very tasty.

Ingredients

1 pumpkin, about 12 inches in diameter
1 quart chicken, turkey or vegetable broth
2 cups heavy cream
1 thick round loaf of French bread, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1 1/2 cup grated Gruyére cheese, about 1/2 pound
salt/pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the top off the pumpkin and scrape out the seeds as though making a jack-o-lantern.

Combine the broth and heavy cream in a mixing bowl

Toast the bread slices. Arrange a slice in the bottom of the pumpkin, sprinkle with thyme leaves and grated cheese, and ladel over just enough of the broth/cream mixture to cover the bread. Sprinkle with salt/pepper.

Repeat this process until the pumpkin is three-quarters full. Don’t try and fill the pumpkin all the way, because the filling expands and will ooze out of the tops. Replace the lid on the pumpkin.

Place the pumpkin on a baking sheet (this is important in case any of the filling does ooze out) and bake for 2 hours.

Take the pumpkin to the table on the baking sheet or on a platter, but be careful – it’s fragile. Remove the lid. Carefully reach in with a large metal spook and scrape around the insides to detatch the pulp and mix it with the other ingredients. Ladle (or scoop; the soup is quite thick) into hot bowls.

Ref: Splendid Soups by James Peterson ISBN: 0-471-39136-0 pg: 218