Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Caramelized Onions and Fresh Jalapeños

We got back from New York City on Wednesday morning. Tired, exhausted, jet lagged. I used up all of my energy being nervous on the plane. G became super sick within one day. He's had a sore throat, cough, runny nose- typical plane virus symptoms. We've been on a soup diet ever since. We've had garlic soup, Vietnamese soup, and then last night I made huge pot of pumpkin soup.
After being under house arrest for three days we were both ready to get out of the apartment. So we went to our favorite autumn farmer's market. We picked up fennel, beets, potatoes, onions, spaghetti squash, a small sugar pumpkin, bread, and blue cheese.
I knew I wanted to make something with the pumpkin and debated about a pie or maybe quesadillas. But ultimately decided on soup. I imagined a thick, creamy soup with caramelized onions and fresh jalapeños. 

Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Caramelized Onions and Fresh Jalapeños
Preparing the Pumpkin
Pre-heat oven to 175c.
Cut one sugar pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and string insides. Set those aside for later so you can make roasted pumpkin seeds.
Then butter the inside of the pumpkin and place it face down on a foiled baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes or until you can pierce a fork through the outside.
Once throughly baked, let the pumpkin cool for about 30 minutes*
Then remove the inside flesh from the skin. Keep the flesh, discard the skin.

Soup

I used a basic pumpkin soup recipe for my base. But I tweaked it a bit to what I had in my pantry and for the kind of heat I was going for.

Large pad of butter

2 small to medium onions diced

2 garlic cloves crushed

A pinch to several pinches of cayenne pepper (depends on your heat tolerance)

A pince to several pinches of chili powder (same as above)

A pinch of oregano

5 cups of water with vegetable bouillon 

One sugar pumpkin

75 grams of melted butter

3/4 cup of milk

1/4 to 1/2 cup of brown sugar

More seasoning to taste (salt, pepper, more cayenne)

Garnishes for the Soup

4 onions sliced to be caramelized (recipe further below)

1 fresh jalapeño, seeded and thinly sliced.

Creme fraiche (optional)

_____________________

Heat a large soup pot with your pad of butter on medium-high heat and fry the onions and garlic until soft. Then add in your spices, mix. Let simmer for a few minutes stirring every so often.**

If using bouillon add in your bouillon with the onion and garlic mix. Stir and simmer for a few seconds. Pour in your 5 cup of water (or your vegetable broth).

Add in your roasted pumpkin and let the mixture come to a boil and then reduce the heat. Let simmer for about 15 minutes. If you have an immersion blender then remove the mixture from the heat and blend until smooth. If not, use whatever type of blender you have to blend the mixture. Just be careful, it's hot.

Put the soup back on the stove on low heat. Add in the melted butter*** and then the milk. Add the brown sugar. 

Add salt, pepper, or more spice until the soup is to your liking. 

Put the soup in a bowl. Top with a dollop of creme fraiche, a few fresh sliced jalapeños, and a bunch of caramelized onions. Enjoy!

Caramelized Onions

Heat a large saucepan on medium high heat with about a tablespoon of olive oil. When the pan is hot throw in the onion slices. Let simmer and fry for a few minutes, stirring every few. You don't want them to burn to black crisp. Turn the heat down a bit once the onions start to brown and continue to let simmer. You want them to be brown and soft. Sometimes I add a bit of water halfway through to help them retain their moisture. Once they are dark brown, remove from heat and set aside until your soup is done.

Notes

*While the pumpkin is cooling I suggest to start your prep work- slicing and dicing the onions and then caramelizing the onions.

** If I were to make the soup again I would probably make a roux in the beginning. I had to add a bit of flour halfway through making the soup to help thicken it. I think the pumpkin I used was a bit too small and therefore the soup was too watery at first.

*** If you soup is too watery add a bit of flour to the melted butter mixture. Mix well with a fork and then add to your soup to help thicken it.