This is quickly made with canned pumpkin and can easily be doubled or tripled. It keeps well in the fridge or can be frozen for later. The sherry adds a smoky and the tomato paste deepens the color.
If I were serving this for a holiday gathering in the U.S. I would put it in festive mugs to be sipped while everyone was milling around the kitchen before dinner. When I entertained in the U.S. everyone ended up in the kitchen.
Here, of course, it would be in a proper bowl as a sit-down first course.
See below.
Oh, I made this with fresh pumpkin, naturally…. The easy canned stuff isn’t available here.
Pumpkin Soup with Sherry
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 medium leek
- 1 cup (8oz, 240gr) pumpkin purée
- 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) chicken stock
- 1/4 cup (2oz, 60ml) sherry
- 1 tbs butter
- 2 tsp tomato paste
- pinch of nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp marjoram
- more chicken stock, sherry or water if needed
- 1 – 2 tbs Greek or plain yogurt
Instructions:
- Clean and slice the leek.
- In medium sauce pan sauté leek in butter until transparent.
- Add pumpkin, stock, sherry, tomato paste, marjoram, ginger and nutmeg.
- Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.
- Purée soup
- Add more stock, sherry or water if you want a thinner soup.
- Ladle into soup plates or bowls (or coffee mugs). Add a dollop of yogurt and serve
There are two kinds of expats living in our area.
The first kind, which includes us, are the people who no longer work for someone else, or, if they do, it’s with flexible hours and flexible locations.
But we still ‘do’ things.
Things that keep us busy – like restoring old farmhouses or maintaining websites or mowing lawns or any number of things with the goal of earning a few euros to keep wine on the table.
The second kind are the well and truly retired.
They do things like go to market and have coffee and stop for a glass of wine and have long lunches followed by long dinners.
We were invited to one of those lunches last week.
It was a lovely lunch and we had a wonderful time.
It started at 12:30 and was over just as the clock struck 5:00.
There wasn’t much left of the day after lunch…. Especially when you consider how much wine was consumed along with the food.
Regardless of whether it’s lunch or dinner, the routine is much the same:
- Apéritif with nibbles
- First course with white wine
- Main course with red or white wine
- Cheese course with red wine or port
- Dessert
- Coffee and chocolates
- Digestif
And, regardless of whether it’s lunch or dinner, it lasts 4 – 5 hours.
If one is a guest one does absolutely nothing. Even an offer to help would be frowned on.
I have been a guest in many houses here…. I have never seen the inside of a kitchen.
That means, of course, that when one is the host one does absolutely everything.
The trick is to make it appear as if one has ‘staff’ in the kitchen doing all the work while the hosts sit and chat with the guests.
I think I’m getting the hang of it. It takes advance planning and do-ahead dishes and, for me, anyway, a written ‘to-do’ list with times on it to make sure everything gets done and nothing is forgotten.
It also means, that when I’m the host I’m tired but clear-headed at the end of it all….. being too busy and too preoccupied to do more than have the occasional sip of wine.
Not true when I’m the guest…..
Which is why there was no post last Wednesday. LOL
New subject:
This was the sky when I walked the dogs at sunrise walk this morning….
Makes crawling out of bed in the dark worthwhile…..
If you want nutrition information for the recipe, try this site: Calorie Count
I would have loved to have been on your dog walk !! We only saw traffic on our brief one this morning !!
Katie, what kind of sherry do you use in that soup, dry or sweet?
I enjoy occasionally giving what I call “long, French lunch” to friends, and I do it more or less as you have described – no guests allowed to help! But, the more casual California style is easier and also lots of fun. Some of each is perfect.
Happy Christmas, Katie, and I hope 2014 is your best year yet, but not your best year ever.
I love those lunches – but not too often as we belong to the former group despite being retired!
The photo made me long for the green of France and our Monday morning drive into Chalais market. We don’t get the same green here even when we have good rains.
Have a very good Xmas and all the best for the coming year.
Thanks for this. I have been looking for a recipe to use up my left over cans of pumpkin and specifically wanted soup.
Kate, that is the ONLY good thing about our sunrise walks in winter. At least in summer it’s warm and I get an early start to my day.
Zoomie, dry, normally…. or whatever is in the cabinet LOL I miss the more casual style. The other thing, here, is it’s still considered bad manners to comment on the food – so no compliments LOL
Gill, have a great Christmas yourself. Yes, they are fun – but more fun if they are spaced well apart LOL It ruins the rest of the day! I suppose I could skip the wine, but, then, why bother?
wonky73, you’re welcome I hope you like it… I think the sherry and tomato make it just a bit more savory.