Registered dietician Emily Kichler’s healthy roasted pumpkin soup recipe has a hint of maple syrup for added sweetness. A shortcut Kichler uses is ready-made pumpkin pie spice to round out the flavours. If you don’t use pumpkin pie spice often, double-check the expiry date. It’s surprisingly easy to make your own pumpkin pie spice — and you can guarantee it will be fresh.
Healthy Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Dietician Emily Kichler roasts fresh pumpkin to make this flavourful soup.
Ingredients
- 1 pie pumpkin
- 3 tbsp + 1 tsp canola oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 6 cups water
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
Garnish (optional)
- yogurt or sour cream
- pumpkin seeds
- pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F. Cut pumpkin in half and scoop out seeds. Coat inside with 1 tsp of the oil. Place, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Bake until soft, about 30 minutes.
- Heat remaining oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until very soft, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook until softened, about 3 more minutes. Add bay leaves, salt, pumpkin pie spice and pepper; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Scoop roasted pumpkin out of skin and add to pot. Stir in and cook about 3 minutes. Stir in water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer to meld flavours, about 15 minutes. Remove bay leaves.
- Blend mixture in batches until smooth, about 2 minutes. Return to pot and heat soup over low, adding up to 1 cup more water if desired to achieve the right consistency. Stir in maple syrup. Serve soup, garnished with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream, some pumpkin seeds and a dusting of pumpkin pie spice.
