I don’t know about you guys, but as soon as the calendar clicked over to January I started craving vegetables. I still do have a few Christmas cookies here in the house, but I’m secretly hoping they disappear in the night and leave me with vegetables and whole grains. It’s that time of year: I’ve had my fill of sugar and butter, I want something comforting and healthful.
I should warn you, people, I am about to rave about a soup. Not just any soup, either, but a chunky pumpkin soup. And I do mean rave.
This recipe came to me by way of Clotilde Dusoulier’s wonderful blog Chocolate & Zucchini. I happened upon it the very same week I had a large pumpkin needing to be used up. I made the soup, and was surprised by how much I loved it (yes, love). It makes a huge pot, but I was happy to eat it day after day. I meant to bring some to my brother and sister-in-law, but I never got around to it. I’ve eaten it for breakfast, I’ve eaten it cold, I have a hard time stopping eating this soup. In the past month I’ve made it three times, and I might make it again next week. I’m hooked on this soup.
I did share the second batch, with my mother, who told me twice how good it was.
This recipe has some features you wouldn’t expect in a vegetable soup. The cumin seeds add a pleasant muskiness to the mix—and a burst of flavor when you bite into one. The harissa, which is a North African mixture of chili peppers in olive oil, gives flavor and a bit of heat. For a chunky, comforting soup, it’s got a surprising sophistication. This is no stodgy vegetable stew.
I’ve made some changes to the recipe—not because there was anything wrong, but because I didn’t have all the ingredients. When I first saw the recipe I wondered if it might be nice with some miso (salty Japanese soybean paste). Something about pumpkin and miso just sounded good. When I realized I didn’t have the full amount of vegetable stock needed, I went ahead and added it.
I also had some wild rice that had been stuck in the fridge and needed to be used. Wild rice is my new favorite ingredient—the grain of wild grasses traditionally eaten by both the Chinese (who no longer do) and native North American tribes. I found a jar of wild rice when I was clearing out the Treehouse kitchen and have been experimenting with it ever since. I love the chewy texture of the long dark grains. It worked well in the soup.
I also added lemon and kale (rather than chard, because that’s what I had). The lemon keeps the miso flavor from becoming too heavy, and plays well with the cumin and harissa. This is not the sort of soup that is going to win a beauty contest—it’s rather homely—but it’s got a comforting texture and far more sass and flavor than any vegetable soup I know. With vegetables, whole grains, and some warming spice, t’s a good way to start the new year.
Warning: don’t try to make this soup with butternut squash. I did once and it was too sweet. Stick to pumpkin.
Here are some other restorative soup recipes, to get your year off on the right foot:
CHUNKY PUMPKIN SOUP
Adapted from Clotilde Dusoulier, Chocolate & Zucchini
2 cups cooked wild rice
(a little less than 1 cup uncooked rice, boiled in 3 cups water until chewy—20-30 mins—and drained)
1 large or two medium onions, cut into ½ inch dice (about 3 cups)
3 tbs olive oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
3 lbs pumpkin (about 12 cups), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 ½ cup carrots, cut into ½ inch cubes
3 cups potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
(Clotilde recommends half floury potatoes and half waxy, I used one large russet and three small yukon golds)
2 cups kale or chard (about 5 large leaves) removed from stem and chopped
1 tbs harissa (or more, to taste)
7-8 tbs miso paste (use a dark brown or red miso with a strong flavor)
½ cup lemon juice
2 ½ tsp salt or to taste
Plain yogurt for topping, if desired
In a small pot, cook your wild rice until soft and chewy, 20-30 mins, drain, and set aside. While the rice is cooking, prepare the following.
In a large pot (5-6 quarts), add the oil and sauté the onion and carrots over a medium high heat until softened (about 5 minutes). Add the cumin seeds and continue to sauté another five minutes. If the cumin seeds start to pop, turn the heat down.
Add the pumpkin and potatoes and cover with water (use vegetable stock, or part stock and water if you prefer). Bring to a boil and turn the heat down to a simmer. Continue to simmer until the pumpkin and potatoes are soft. This will take about 15-20 minutes. The floury potatoes will fall apart in the water, that’s fine.
Using a ladle, spoon some of the liquid into a serving bowl or 2-cup glass measuring cup. Add the harissa and mix to dissolve. Add this mixture back to the pot and stir. Add the salt and lemon juice. Add the greens and stir to incorporate. The greens will wilt with the heat of the soup.
Using the ladle, again remove some of the liquid into a bowl (about 1 1/2 cups of liquid). Add two tbs miso, stir to dissolve (use a spoon to mash out any lumps) and return to the soup pot. Continue with this method until all the miso is incorporated.
You might want to begin tasting the soup after about 4 tbs of miso have been added. If you use any vegetable stock, or if you like your soup less salty, you might not want to use the full amount of miso. Also, different misos have different flavor profiles (see note below). Taste to make sure you like where your version is going.
Add the rice and let warm through. Serve the soup hot or at room temperature. A dollop of yogurt on top is nice too.
NOTE: miso is fermented soybean paste and comes in different varities/colors. Light or white miso is sweet, while dark brown and red miso will be saltier and stronger tasting. For this soup you want a dark brown or red miso. Light miso will be too sweet. Also, you don’t want to boil the soup after the miso has been added. Simmer is okay, but don’t go any higher.
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I'm with you as soon as January starts all I want is soup, stew, and citrus fruit. I could live on them for the entire month.
Yum! I plan on cooking pretty much nothing but soup for the next month or so – I am definitely bookmarking this page.
Sounds fantastic! And thanks for the warning–I was already thinking, "Hmm! I've got a butternut squash. I wonder…"
I'm with you – I've found it quite hard work over Christmas eating other people's food, if you know what I mean.
Love the idea of miso – it's usually great with a bit of lemon to lighten it up.
Happy New Year to you Tea!
Of course I agree that this is the time for soup! I love reaching into the fridge, finding odds and ends of things that need to be used, and combining them to make something unexpected. i'm bookmarking this one, too.
I love the sound of this soup! Especially the miso and wild rice. Restorative and warming, lovely.
I am so happy you're as smitten with this soup as I am! Seriously, I've been making it every. single. week. for the past two months, and I'm pretty sure pumpkins will grow wings and fly away before I tire of it.
I love your variation, and will have to try it. I haven't cooked with wild rice in quite a while, and I must correct that.
Best wishes for 2011!
Wow, this looks GREAT. I simply love pumpkins, especially in savory preparations, and as a big fan of pumpkin soup, I am looking forward to trying it like this.
I think this soup looks perfect – sweet, salty, spicy and nourishing. I bet butternut squash could sub easily for the pumpkin and I can't wait to try this out.
Thanks for sharing!
Gah – I totally missed your warning about the butternut squash. I was smitten by your photo overtop. Thanks for the shout-out!
Sounds yummy!
I used to work in a Japanese grocery in Montreal, and the women I worked with would make ojiya -a miso stew with left-over cooked rice (especially the okoge, the brown crust of not-quite burnt rice), and they would occasionally add chunks of buttercup squash (kabocha). It's not quite the same as your soup, but there is a similarity.
A big fan of Chocolate and Zucchini myself! If you’ve already made this soup three times in the past month, I will definitely have to add this to my list of “Comfort Winter Foods” Thanks for sharing!