Pumpkin Soup with Bacon & Applewood Smoked Cheddar

Today is another dinner food–pumpkin soup, which I found interesting. There are changes I would make to this if I made it again, but we’ll get to that. It was certainly tasty! And filling, as well. I couldn’t even get past one bowl. On to the recipe!

What You’ll Need:

• 4 tbsps butter
• 2 tbsps onion powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 lb russet potato
• 1/2 lb sweet potato
• 6 cups pumpkin flesh (or 3 cups pureed pumpkin)
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tbsp parsley flakes
• 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
• 2 tsps ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 2-3 tsps ground sage
• salt and pepper, to taste
• bacon, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• applewood smoked cheddar, to taste*

Step 01: Prepare the bacon. I hate hate hate frying bacon (it splatters everywhere) so I bake it in the oven at 400°F for 15 minutes. Make sure to put aluminum foil on your cookie sheet or they’ll turn super crispy. Once it’s done, dry it on a towel and then dice it.

Step 02: Dice your vegetables and dump them into a large stock pot with the butter. Cook for about 2-3 minutes and then add chicken broth. Cook for 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are completely soft.

Step 03: Dump the contents of the pot into a blender or food processor. Puree until completely smooth.

Step 04: Put everything back in the pot, adding your seasonings, cream, and lemon juice.

Step 05: Pour soup into a bowl, top with bacon and cheddar and serve hot.

This was a very thick, very sweet soup. So my changes would be:

• add a little more liquid to thin the soup
• exchange the sweet potato for more russet potatoes or maybe zucchini
• definitely use pre-pureed pumpkin, because dicing it was a pain
• add cheese to the soup itself, not just as a topping
• add more garlic, because everything is better with more garlic 😛

That last one may or may not be a joke. (Hint: It’s not.)

I left the recipe as is, though, because maybe you like it sweet. Who knows? 🙂

It was certainly an experience!

*Any cheddar will do, but the smokiness of the applewood smoked cheddar gave it a much needed savoriness.

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