Roasted Sunset Kabocha Soup

It's officially Fall! I wanted to offer the perfect welcome. This recipe for Kabocha (Japanese winter pumpkin) soup is creamy and thick, and with ginger, cumin, turmeric, and coriander. I came upon this little pumpkin at my CSA this week. I had never had it before, so I had to read up on it. It's a good source of iron, vitamin C, and B vitamins, and high in fiber; making this little pumpkin a paleo friendly option way to cream things up! What a jewel! This soup was delicious, I have officially given the kabocha the best squash award for versatility and flavor. I started by chopping this pumpkin in half. It's pretty tough, but using my largest, sharpest knife, I gave it on quick ninja cut. Then, with the knife stuck in it, I pound it on the cutting board. I'm not sure if this is really a technique, but it works for me.

I scooped out the center, just like a regular pumpkin, and made those into pumpkin seeds (350 for 25 minutes). First pumpkin seeds of the season!

Coat the pumpkin pieces with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until soft and caramelized.

Sauté onions, celery, garlic, cumin, coriander: Heat olive oil on medium high heat in a large pan. Add the onions and celery. Lower the heat to medium and cook until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add in ginger, turmeric, and pepper, saute 2 minutes.

Add stock, salt, then simmer. Place the roasted pumpkin into the soup after removing the skin. Increase heat to high to bring the soup to a simmer, then lower the heat to low, partially cover and cook approximately 10 minutes. Turn heat off.

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Use blender (or work in batches with a standing blender, only filling the blender bowl 1/3 of the way each time) to purée the soup. Top with lime juice, watermelon radish, and cilantro. Lime on watermelon radish is amazing!

Ingredients

• A large kabocha pumpkin, seeded (about 3 lbs)

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

• pink Himalayan sea salt

• 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

• 2 cups chopped or sliced onions

• 4 ribs of celery, sliced

• 4 cloves garlic, chopped

• 1 1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and grated

• 1 inch piece of fresh turmeric root, peeled and grated

• 1 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

• 4 cups of chicken stock

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• garnish cilantro, lime, & watermelon radish