Autumn Gourds
Fall is here! Indeed, friends and family in the US are heading to apple orchards and pumpkin patches. They are finding their cornucopia basket and filling it with oddly shaped mini squash, and decorating it with beautiful newly-fallen leaves. I have tried to explain this décor phenomena to my international friends and I always fail miserably, collapsing into a fit of giggles. Probably this is also because I refer to the McSweeney blog on the topic of Decorative Gourd Season, which I provide a link to, but do be warned as it’s full of profanity. But I digress. I may not have an apple orchard, pumpkin patch, or corn maze in Costa Rica, but I will have Creamy Pumpkin Soup, no matter the weather!
Ayote Sazón – the Costa Rican Pumpkin
I’m one of those people who loves pumpkin and squash in any capacity, as demonstrated in my Coconut Chicken Curry and Three Green Omelette. A big pumpkin provides opportunity for loads of festive fall recipes! The variety of pumpkin that is most easily available to me is called Ayote Sazón – which translates to “mature squash” and is a creamy, delicious pumpkin native to this region. But Halloween pumpkins or any squash available to you will work!
The first thing I do is cut the pumpkin up into large chunks, scrape away the seeds, brush it with oil, and roast it in a hot oven for about an hour. When it passes the fork-test, that is to say you can easily push a fork into the meat of the pumpkin, I turn off the oven and leave it in the oven overnight. It cools, obviously, and in the morning I take it out for surgery. Some pieces will have darker, caramelised edges, which makes for great flavour. When the pumpkin is cool, it’s exactly like cutting melon – so easy to scrape the flesh away from the skin. When possible, I never peel pumpkin or squash before I bake it! Here is a nifty photo gallery; it took me 10 minutes to separate the peels from this one huge pumpkin, giving me 2.6kg (5.7lbs) of cooked ayote sazón!
This soup comes together with very few ingredients and as I often find, simpler is better.
Ingredients
- 1 large white onion (or 2 small), chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2-3 tablespoons coconut or olive oil
- 200 grams coconut milk (half a can)
- 1 kilogram roasted pumpkin
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions for Creamy Pumpkin Soup
- Bake: Cut pumpkin into large chunks and scrape away seeds. Arrange on oven safe dishes. Brush with 1-2 tablespoons oil and bake in an oven pre-heated to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 1 hour. Turn off oven and allow to cool – overnight is fine.
- Scrape: Remove pumpkin from oven. Scrape flesh away from skin.
- Sauté: Heat 1-2 tablespoons oil in a saucepan. Roughly chop the onion and sauté until golden brown, 10 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Remove from heat.
- Blend: Add the onions and garlic to a blender, add 200 grams coconut milk and as much roasted pumpkin as fits. Blend. Blend the rest of the pumpkin that didn’t fit – add water as necessary.
- Warm: When you are ready to eat, pour the blended soup into a pot and bring back up to temperature. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve: Swirl some extra virgin olive oil on top and top with freshly cracked black pepper.
I love to pair this delicious soup with my Easy Sourdough Bread. I hope you enjoy it!