A Kiwi classic; pumpkin soup

There seems to less distinction made here between pumpkins and squash. All these are shown as examples of pumpkins on a NZ vegetable website I visited, although the one I see most often in stores is the whitish one, sitting at approximately 5 o'clock.

My post today is about a staple food here. One of the first foods that the boys were served in day care was pumpkin soup. They accepted it happily then and they love it now. 

Last night, Arram ate three bowls of it. Not long ago at lunch, he asked his mother to measure how fast he could finish a bowl of it. I don't know the results of the timing, but I think the only way he could have done it faster would be if he had been allowed to drink it directly from the bowl and he put off breathing for the duration of the attempt. Such appreciation of a soup is very gratifying to his Grammy who is happily producing yet another batch as I write this. (and Amiri ate 4 bowls, I'm reminded)  

I am not a huge fan. It's okay, but that's about as complimentary as my taste buds will allow me to be. Admittedly, my sixty plus years of considering steaks, ribs, and hot sauces haute cuisine have probably jaded me. I agree that it's hearty, healthy, filling, nutritious and even beautiful.  But it's the plain jane of soups. Now, the chili we had the other night, that's another story. Don't get me started. I could go on for hours.




I took a few photos while Jeanne prepared some today.

Remembering my recent post about eating like a Kiwi, I thought I'd try to keep you thinking along those lines with this addition to your recipe book.  

We like to buy chicken bones at Aussie Butcher to form a base for the soup.  You could use a whole chicken or any sort of chicken meat, but you don't want much meat, just chicken flavor.

Here are the ingredients and the proportions Jeanne used. They can vary. Pumpkin soup seems to be a 'fly by the seat of your pants' soup. 

Chop up the celery and the leek coarsely. Add some Lawry's salt and black pepper. Saute until they start to brown in butter. Don't substitute onions for the leek.  It won't be as good. 
(It doesn't have to be Lawry's. That is not a Kiwi seasoning. Regular salt is fine.)

Peel the pumpkin or squash and chop it up a bit. Pull the chicken bones out of the broth. If there is meat on them, pull it off and put it back in again. 

Put the squash into the pot and give it a good boil till the squash is done, then turn it way down and let it simmer low and slow. 

Use whatever you have to blend the soup until it's very smooth. Adjust salt and pepper. 

This picture doesn't look as yellow as the soup actually appears to me. I've had thick soup and thin soup. There is no rule about that. Your preference.
Jeanne made some ham and cheese toasties to go with a mug of this the other day.
Croutons are a good idea, or a basket of garlic bread.
Give it a shot. If you make too much, freeze it.   -djf