Thanksgiving is just around the corner and a lot of us are looking for some new ideas. Although it may not be part of everyone's traditional dinner, a lovely bowl of hearty autumn soup is a welcome idea. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino has noted, the makings for good Thanksgiving soups are all around us.
We're talking about things like squash, pumpkins, carrots, and apples. Let's take a look:
Butternut squash soup is perhaps the best-loved autumn soup. You'll start by sautéing chopped onion in olive oil, working in a deep sided pan. Season with salt and pepper then toss in cubed pieces of a butternut squash and cook that until tender. Add a tablespoon of minced garlic, chopped sage and rosemary. Pour in four cups of vegetable broth, stir it all together and let it simmer. Next you purée it in a food processor until it is nice and smooth. Adjust the seasoning and garnish with chopped parsley.
Close behind is pumpkin soup, a natural for the season. Maryland farmers are growing a lot more than Jack O'Lanterns, especially pumpkins for baking. I would select the flattened-out variety called Cinderella.
The process is similar to squash soup. But first you're going to cut up the pumpkin into quarters, scoop out the seeds and membrane. A little oil goes on the pumpkin pieces, and then it's a 425° oven for 40 minutes. And while you're at it, put aside those seeds for roasting.
While the pumpkin is in the oven, you sautée some chopped onion and minced garlic and take it off the heat as soon as it is fragrant. When finished, take out the roasted pumpkin, cool it and chop it into small cubes. Season with classic pumpkin pie spices, pour in 4 cups of chicken broth and simmer the whole shebang,
Finally, hit it with an immersion blended and work it until it is smooth. Add a bit of cream, warm the whole thing in a pot and serve with those roasted pumpkin seeds.
For the carrot soup, follow the same procedure, but add celery to the initial sauté on the stove top. You'll want 5 cups of peeled, cut up carrots plus some fresh chopped thyme. Once again, stir in your favorite broth and purée with your submersible blender.
An apple soup is a different idea. Select a combination of soft apples like McIntosh and Pink Lady with sweeter apples like Gala or Ambrosia. Start by cooking up 2 or 3 rashers of bacon. When fried crisp, set aside, and use the same pot to sauté cut up onions and sweet potato. When that softens out, you can add your cut up apples and a bit of minced garlic. Then you'll stir in your broth and a pint of apple cider. Cook everything until it's all tender, then hit it with your blender.
Once smooth you will return it to the heat and stir in about a cupful of shredded cheddar cheese. Allow it to melt, then use half and half to smooth out the texture ever more. Garnish with your bacon bits, and pumpkin seeds or pepitas, and serve nice and hot.
