Pumpkin Veloute
Pumpkin soup, a dish with roots reaching back to France, has long been celebrated for its velvety richness and comforting warmth. Its beauty lies in its versatility—countless pumpkin varieties can be transformed into a silky soup or an elegant velouté, each bringing its own character to the bowl. Among the finest choices are the Red Kuri squash, the sugar pie squash, and the Honeynut squash. In this recipe, I honored all three (70% Red Kuri squash, with the remaining 30% split between sugar pie and Honeynut squash for garnishing), adding a delicate hint of orange and apple to lift the flavors with a subtle sweetness and brightness. Roasting the pumpkins and squashes before simmering them with the liquid deepened their natural sugars and enriched the entire dish, lending it a beautifully caramelized complexity. As for heavy cream, it is by no means essential to a superb pumpkin soup. I far prefer the clean, rich taste of butter—and with a powerful mixer, it blends into a perfectly smooth, luxurious texture that needs nothing more.
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Jack O Lantern's favorite soup
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Cleaning Pumpkin
- To start, you'll need to clean out pumpkins, squashes, and fruits with wet paper towels or by rinsing them. For the pumpkins, cut them lengthwise and remove the seeds and fibrous parts, but be sure to save everything for the stock.
Roasting Pumpkin
- Cut and core pears and apples (no need to peel them). In a large sautoir, coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil and add salt, chopped ginger, a halved garlic head, and your choice of herbs. Arrange the pear, apple, and half an orange (flesh side down) in the pan. Top with the pumpkin halves and any remaining flesh from the honeynut squash. Tent the pan with aluminum foil and bake at 425ºF/210ºC for 40 minutes. Once the initial baking time is up, remove the pan from the oven and flip the pumpkins. Stuff them with the remaining cooked ingredients – apple, pear, orange, garlic, ginger, and herbs. Return the pan to the oven for another 40 minutes or until everything is cooked through. If you're using a fan oven, remember that the baking time may need to be reduced. After baking, transfer all the baked goods onto a baking mat or tray. Don't clean the sautoir just yet – you'll want to cook the soup directly in it to make the most of all the flavorful bits left on the bottom of the pan from roasting. Scrape the meat out of the pumpkins (if you're using Red Kuri Squash, you can leave the skin on for added texture). Chop the pumpkin meat and add it to the sautoir along with any remaining ingredients. Fill the pan with water or broth, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Once everything is cooked and tender, blend the soup using a hand blender or food processor until smooth. Adjust the seasoning to taste and serve hot, garnished with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of fresh herbs, and a dollop of crème fraîche if desired.
Pumpkin Brunoise Spheres
- Cut off the honeynut squash ends and peel until the flesh shows. Use the neck only for the brunoise. Trim and cut the neck into 0.12''/3mm slices, cut the slices into batonnets, and then into cubes. Save the bottom parts and add them to the roasting pumpkin pan. Add the seeds and skins to the pumpkin stock. Mince the shallots and throw the scraps into the stock as well. In a frying pan, sauté the brunoise along with the shallots, oil, salt, and sugar for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the cream and reduce for about 5 minutes or until it comes together. Let cool and fill half of a silicone sphere mold and freeze for 2 hours. Unmold, and assemble 2 half spheres to form balls. Do not serve frozen. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. The pumpkin brunoise can be scooped out and spooned into a quenelle.
Pumpkin Stock
- In a large saucepan, gather all scraps from the squashes, seeds, fruits, seeds, and skins. Add water, bring to a boil, and cook over low heat for 35 minutes.
Pumpkin Velouté
- In the same large sautoir that was used to roast the pumpkins, add 30g butter and put back the chopped pumpkin meat, pear, apple, and garlic. Squeeze out the juice from the orange, add the pumpkin stock, water, or chicken stock, and cook the pumpkin mixture for 25 minutes more. Make 3 or 4 batches at a time and mix using a powerful blender – divide the butter (100g) into 3 or 4 chunks and add one to each batch. Add more butter if desired. Pass the blended soup through a sieve. Repeat until done. Readjust the consistency by adding more stock or water if necessary. Do not add too much liquid; it should remain pretty thick and velvety. Season with more salt and ground black pepper if needed. Bring the velouté to a boil before serving.
Plating
- Toast some pepitas. The soup can be served in a large shallow dish with warm pumpkin brunoise laid on the bottom. If plating, place a cool (not frozen) Honeynut squash sphere in the center of each hot plate and warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds if desired. Pour the hot velouté around it. Garnish with a few drops of black truffle oil and toasted pepitas. The pumpkin velouté can be kept refrigerated for a few days or frozen for a few weeks. Reheat the soup and blend prior to serving. Enjoy!
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