Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
1 large or two small pumpkins
½ can evaporated milk
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 tbs ginger, finely chopped
½ yellow onion, diced
2 tbs olive oil
1 small jar of basil pesto
1 small handful of toasted pumpkin seeds
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F
Cut pumpkin(s) in half and scoop out strings and seeds. Oil inside and outside, and place CUT side down on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper.
Bake on the middle rack approximately 45 minutes or until flesh is tender and the skin is starting to slide off.
While the pumpkin is cooking, sauté the onion and ginger in the olive oil until soft. Set aside.
When pumpkins are done cooking, let cool slightly until you can handle them without burning yourself. Scoop the flesh out of the skin and place into a food processor or blender. Add the evaporated milk, the sautéed onions and ginger and 1 cup of the stock. Blend until smooth and add remaining stock until the desired consistency is reached. It should be thick and creamy.
Serve in a bowl with some of the basil pesto and pumpkin seeds on top
Options:
You can certainly add cream, other seeds, make a gremolata, or even other herbs such as mint to change the flavor to your taste.
The Story:
I will be honest, I don’t like pumpkins. Never have. Probably never will. As with beets (which taste like dirt to me) the humble pumpkin just plain tastes weird and I don’t like it. However, my husband grows a lot of them every year for the grandkids to pick in our garden and as a result we have a lot of leftovers. The best thing I’ve found to do with them is make soup and pie. It is a fall favorite for everyone else in the house.