Spiced Pumpkin and Cashew Soup

Pumpkin has been a popular ingredient in recipes all across the Internet over the past month. I have seen everything from pumpkin butter, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cookies and more. I am a little bit behind everyone else but I wanted to get in on the fall pumpkin theme.
One of my favourite ways to use pumpkin (pumpkin pie is incredible as well!) is to make a cream soup. This soup also uses ground cashews to provide an earthy, nutty flavour. The spice in the soup is a mild curry with an extra hint of the cinnamon. It is a great soup to have on a cold fall day!
Mary only goes to school in the mornings, so she was around to help me clean out the pumpkins. She enjoyed getting her hands in the pumpkin slime, pulling out the seeds. She has been walking around the house in her Wonder Woman costume for the past week. The boys love super heroes, so she is glad to be able to participate. I warned her that the costume might get dirty and she responded confidently that Wonder Woman is not worried about a little bit of pumpkin slime! Tomorrow we are going to roast the seeds after hockey practice.
Pie pumpkins are what you want to use for cooking. Don’t use the big, jack-o-lantern kind. Cut these in half to cook the pulp.
Mary, aka Wonder Woman, was eager to help me clean out the inside. Clearly, she is all ready for trick-or-treating!
Lay the pumpkins on a cookie sheet to bake them in order to cool the pulp. Also, when caramelizing the onions, add the spices so the flavours bloom.
Blend the soup in a food processor until smooth.
Spiced Pumpkin and Cashew Soup
Ingredients
- 3 cup of pumpkin pulp
- 1/3 cup cashews
- 1 small onion
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 3 cups milk
Instructions
- Cut the pumpkins in half and clean the insides out, removing all the seeds and slime. Line a cookie sheet with foil, spray it with Pam and lay the pumpkins, cut side down, on the sheet. Bake at 325F for 1 hour.
- In a frypan, add the butter, onions and spices. Saute the onions until they become transparent and begin to caramelize. The aroma will be wonderful as the spices bloom.
- In a food processor add the cashews and pulse until they are a powder. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
- Scoop out the pulp from the pumpkins.
- Transfer the soup to a pot and cook at a medium low heat for about 15-20 minutes. Do not let the soup come to a rapid boil as it can easily stick to the bottom.