Sasha's Kitchen: Pumpkin Pear Soup - Another Pumpkin Soup Variation

Earlier this month, I introduced my recipe for pumpkin cashew soup, which I served at a recent seven course vegetarian dinner party.  It was such a delicious soup, that I decided it was worthwhile to do some additional experimentation with pumpkin soups, using organic pumpkin puree.  Thus, for the next soup in this series, I decided to prepare a pumpkin pear soup, using a homemade puree from fresh poached pears.

Several years ago, I used to make a delicious recipe for squash pear soup, using pureed squash and pears, so I figured that pumpkin and pear would be an equally dynamic combination.  Here is the recipe that I designed, which is a deviation from my pumpkin cashew soup, in that it is not really spicy (just a bit of smokiness from the chipotle) and leaves out much of the sweetness, to allow for the natural sweetness of the fructose from the pears.  In addition, I decided to add a bit of nutmeg and star anise to help balance out the flavors.

To prepare the pears, they need to be cooked, so you can puree them.  I chose to prepare them by a simple boiling job (essentially poaching in a pot of water with 1 tablespoon of sugar). This is quite simple, but be sure to peel away the skin from the pears first.  After about 5-10 minutes when they are soft, cut off the fruit and puree it in the Cuisinart.

4 1/2 cups chicken stock
3 cups pumpkin puree
4 pureed poached pears
4 tsp chipotle (not really spicy at all, just smoky)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 star anise
2 T maple syrup
1 cup creme fraiche or reduced fat sour cream
pumpkin seeds

To prepare the recipe, bring the chicken stock to a boil with the star anise,  Add the three cups of plain pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) and whisk to combine.  If you think it is too thick, you can add a bit more chicken stock, and if it is too runny, you can add a bit more pumpkin puree, at any point in the process.   Next, whisk in the pureed pears, maple syrup, chipotle and nutmeg.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and feel free to adjust the other spices to suit your personal tastes.  Reduce to a simmer and stir occasionally for 15-20 minutes.  At this point, if you need to, you can add a half a cup of extra chicken broth if the soup is too thick.

Remove the soup from the heat and mix in the creme fraiche or reduced fat sour cream, to make the soup somewhat creamy.  This is key to getting the creamy and delicious flavor of either the pumpkin pear soup.  But, if you are trying to make the soup more lowfat, you could even substitute non-fat sour cream.

Serve the soup with a tablespoon or two of pumpkin seeds and a healthy sided dollop of sour cream.  This soup is smooth and delicious, and pretty healthy as well.  It's easy to see why pumpkin soups are so popular in restaurants around America this time of year.  This was one of my favorite soups that I have had in quite awhile.

Sasha's Kitchen: Pumpkin Pear Soup - Another Pumpkin Soup Variation

Michelle's Kitchen in Toronto: Root Vegetables

Michelle (known on this blog as Mixeuur) is a former cooking school student who decided to ditch the sweat and heat to move to China where she lived for a year and a half. When not traveling to find new foods and adventures, Mixeuur can be found experimenting in her kitchen in Toronto, Canada. Her posts will periodically add some additional flavors to this new blog.


A bit about me: I’m a former cooking school student who decided to globetrot instead of slaving in a professional kitchen for a living. Thankfully, my two passions of travel and food pair together nicely! Within the last six months, I joined an internationally known weight loss program and have lost 50 lbs so far, so I’m always looking for healthy and flavorful things to make. I rarely follow a recipe unless baking so my dishes are very adaptable to many different ingredients.

In my savory cooking, I tend to be extremely seasonal in what I buy and make. I feel that if it grows together, cook it together! The season for root vegetables is upon us, and I must say that this is my favorite time of year in terms of veggies. The bounty of spring and summer are delicious, but if you’re looking for homey, warm you to your toes dishes, fall and early winter are where it’s at!

I love fresh beets and was trying to find more ways to use them in my cooking – which is where this recipe came from. Add a sweet potato and a parsnip and voila! I now make a version of this all the time and it’s always a crowd pleaser! A tip: chop all the veg as close to the same size as you can so they cook evenly.

Michelle’s Roasted Root Vegetables

1 medium sweet potato (6 oz) peeled and cubed
1 parsnip (3 oz) peeled and cubed
3 beets (8 oz) peeled and cubed
2-3 garlic cloves cut in large pieces (in half or quarters at the largest)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups chicken broth
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cardamom
2 bay leaves

Preheat oven to 375F. Put all the ingredients in a 9x11x2 inch pan and mix together so the vegetables are coated. Bake in the oven for 1 hour, mixing once or twice during cooking so they cook evenly.

Substitutions are encouraged with this dish! For example, instead of brown sugar, maple syrup is also delicious. Use vegetable stock instead of chicken (just don’t use beef stock. It imparts an odd flavour to this dish), or more of the cinnamon and cardamom if you like it more pungent. Don’t have cardamom? Use nutmeg or allspice.

Serves 4 as a side dish.

Michelle's Kitchen in Toronto: Root Vegetables