Cream of Pumpkin Soup with Cinnamon Croutons

Tweeky's Note:

A great soother or subtle beginning to an elegant dinner. This recipe is wonderful and even better yet if you are lucky enough to have fresh pumpkin to use in place of canned. I clipped this out of a magazine many years ago and we have enjoyed it ever since.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
• 2 (13 3/4 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 (1 lb) can solid-pack pumpkin (2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup heavy cream

Cinnamon Croutons

• 3 tablespoons softened butter or 3 tablespoons margarine
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 slices whole grain bread

Directions:

1. Heat butter in large saucepan or dutch oven; add onion; saute until tender but not brown, about 10 minutes.
2. Add 1 can chicken broth; bring to boiling; cover; lower heat; simmer 15 minutes.
3. Ladle liquid and onion into container of electric blender; cover.
4. Blend until mixture is smooth, about 1 minute.
5. Return to saucepan.
6. Add remaining chicken broth, pumpkin, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and pepper.
7. Stir until smooth.
8. Bring to boiling; cover.
9. Lower heat; simmer 10 minutes, stirring often.
10. Stir in milk and cream; heat just to boiling, but do not boil.
11. Taste for seasonings.
12. Garnish with cinnamon croutons.
13. CINNAMON CROUTONS: Blend 3 Tbls.
14. softened butter or margarine with 1 Tbls.
15. brown sugar and 1/4 Tsp.
16. ground cinnamon in small bowl.
17. Spread on the 4 slices of bread.
18. Place in single layer on cookie sheet.
19. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until toast is crisp and topping is bubbly.
20. Cut into small triangles or squares.

Reviews

[Chef #1440837]

This is a lovely soup. Fragrant and creamy, it's great as an appetizer before a meal, or as the main meal. I've run out of cream and milk, and used a can of evaporated milk. It works well.

[Annie's Cooking]

Thank you Tweeky. This was a wonderful soup and hit the spot on this cold autumn night. I added a touch of curry powder which gave it a kick. Like Domestic Goddess I too cut back a bit on the onion. It is a keeper for sure.

[Domestic Goddess]

Tweeky, this soup was sooo delish!! I made this soup for todays lunch, but I also tweeked the recipe. I only added a 1/2 cup of the chopped onion, (which I thought was the right amount for this recipe) as I didn't want the onion to over power the taste of the soup, plus when I sauteed the onion in butter, I only cooked it for 3 minutes over a medium-low heat. I only added 3 cups of the broth, as the recipe states to add 2-(13 and 3/4 ounces) which equals about 3 cups. When it came to adding the milk, I only added 1 cup, as I thought it was the right consistency. I think adding 2 cups would of made the soup a bit too runny, plus I think it would of diluted the taste of the spices. I loved the taste of the toasted Cinnamon Croutons, which only took 8 minutes to bake in the oven. Afterwards I cut each toasted bread into 4 squares, so we could dip each piece into the soup. When it came to making the croutons, I used a 12 grain bread which I purchased at Aldi's. It tasted great, and was half the price of those other whole grain breads. Since I didn't add the 2 cups of milk to this recipe, I would say this soup makes about 6 servings. The only other thing I would change about this recipe is, to make twice the amount of the Cinnamon Croutons; especially if your serving this soup to 6 people at once, otherwise you won't have enough bread to go around. Thank you Tweeky for posting this recipe. My husband and I really enjoyed this soup.