Pumpkin Soup Experiment

I am conducting a rash culinary experiment. Partly because I am lazy, partly because I love my crock pot, and partly because I found no recipes that appealed to me or reflected the contents of my cupboard. I wanted a non-dairy soup that could be made in the aforementioned crock pot and would give me an opportunity to exercise my stick blender. (Note to self: perhaps checking to make sure the stick blender isn't in storage is something I should have done before starting this process.)

I should first mention that I am living in a cottage with no real kitchen. I have an electric skillet, an electric teakettle, a microwave, and a crock pot, and with these I make do. I will save my raptures about the teakettle for another time, as it will not be used for this project. Neither will the microwave.

I roasted the pumpkin the other night and failed to eat it, partly because I didn't start the process until I was very hungry and therefore ended up eating dinner before the squash was finished. Also a factor was the sad reality that the edges were close to burning before the lower sides felt quite as done as I wanted them. If I get to roasting the other half, I shall cut it into quarters and try that.

1/2 pumpkin, roasted
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, cut into large chunks
half a box of organic chicken broth
some amount of ground ginger, yet to be determined*
pepper & salt if needed, but I suspect the broth will cover my salting needs

Scoop out pumpkin flesh, or peel off skin, getting hands kind of squishy in the process, and put flesh into the crock pot. Sauté onion and carrots in olive oil until slightly brown around the edges. Dump into crock pot. Deglaze the skillet with the chicken stock (never let it be said I have learned nothing from dating E) and dump into crock pot. Put on the lid, and turn on high.

That's as far as I am for the moment - I suspect 4 hours will be about the right amount of time for the veggies to become blendable and the flavors to meld.

***

I ended up turning the heat down to low after about 3 hours, since I had stuff to do this afternoon which I'd forgotten about. Three hours after that, and I checked to find things well and truly ready to blend. Since the stick blender appears to be in storage, I used a regular blender. (Why the stickblender that I use is in storage while the crappy standard blender isn't, I can't really explain.) The good news is, this was a very small quantity of soup and fit in all at one go, and it was quick to blend up.

Then I added ginger and pepper - how much I can't say, as I seem to have misplaced my measuring spoons. And it turned out great! It was a bit bland before seasoning, so I overdid the pepper a bit. The ginger added a lot to the party and kicked bland to the curb.

Now, I am eating a tasty, seasonal, and pretty darn healthy dinner!



* I like the flavor of ginger and therefore people tend to give me ginger things as presents. I currently posses more powdered ginger than I am likely to use in the rest of my natural life.