Curried Pumpkin Soup

CJ challenged me to try making some pumpkin recipes from fresh sugar pumpkins we picked up at the store this week, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. So tonight I made Curried Pumpkin Soup. This dish was so rich, with that perfect Indian hint of spice. I added some hot chicken sausage and it just took it over the top. The best part was blending it all up in the food processor (a kitchen nemesis of mine, but we are working on our relationship after one too many pulverized salsas). You can also substitute butternut squash for pumpkin if you have a ton left over (like me). 

I placed the whole pumpkins in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour and the shells were perfectly hard and deep orange. I took a serrated knife to the tops and scooped out the seeds for roasting. After that I was able to scoop out all the orange pumpkin goodness, two pumpkins made about five cups of filling! Bargain considering what a can of pumpkin is going for in the stores. Next time, I will lop off the tops and scoop out the seeds before cooking, because it got messy, I am not going to lie to you. But the shells were hard and perfect for serving the soup.

Here is the finished product with recipe below:

Curried Pumpkin Soup

From Epicurious.com, modified by me.
Ingredients:

• 2 hot chicken sausage links
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped (2 cups)
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
• 2 (15-oz) cans solid-pack pumpkin (3 1/2 cups; not pie filling)
• 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (14-oz) can unsweetened coconut milk

Cook sausage and onions in a wide 6-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add cumin, coriander, and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in salt, red pepper flakes, pumpkin, broth, and coconut milk and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Purée soup in batches in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids), transferring to a large bowl, and return soup to pot. Keep soup warm over low heat.