Pumpkin Mushroom Soup

Once the crisp fall air hits I begin to crave pumpkin in everything I do. I am certain that the craving doesn’t end before the crocuses bloom so I am still knee deep in my favorite pumpkin recipes. Pumpkin, like other winter squash varieties is super sweet and delicious and have a bonus of being high in the vitavegamins.

A couple of weeks ago, my dear friend Shannon put together a fantastic Christmas play dates for a few of our friends. We had a wonderful time catching up, playing baby games and filling our bellies with delicious holiday treats. One of the yummiest was a wonderfully rich pumpkin mushroom soup that she had purchased from the Back Porch Restaurant in DE, brought home and froze just for us. When I say this soup was decadent I mean it. The perfectly creamy pumpkin laced with the deep umami flavors of the shrooms had me at hello.

Since I couldn’t get the soup out of my head I thought I would try and whip up my own version to see if I could get close to the flavor I was looking for. The version that I ended up with is a bit different but yummy all the same. It was super quick and easy to make and as Shannon pointed out, it would totally be a perfect way to start out a festive holiday dinner in the future.

Pumpkin Mushroom Soup

¼ c Chopped celery
½ c Chopped onion
¼ c Chopped carrot
4 tbs Butter
2 tbs Flour
1 tbs Cumin
3 c Homemade chicken stock
16 oz of fresh pumpkin (baked and strained) or 1 can Pumpkin (not pie filling)
2 tbs honey
Dash of nutmeg
½ lb Sliced mushrooms (I used crimini)
1 c Heavy cream
Salt and Pepper

In a stock pot saute celery, onion and carrot in 2 tbs butter until soft. Add flour and stir until incorporated. Add cumin, stock, pumpkin, honey and nutmeg and blended using an immersion blender. (if you do not have one you can always blend in a traditional blender and then pour it back into the original pot to continue cooking.) Saute mushrooms in the remainder of the butter until they are soft and stir them into the soup with cream. Simmer and flavor with salt and pepper.  

*The version that is pictured was done without the blending. The result was a chunkier version of the soup where you could pick out the pieces of carrot, celery and onion. While delicious, I much preferred the super smooth version I had at Shannon’s so I thought the blending would definitely be worth the extra step. My recipe research did lead me to find several versions of this soup that did not include the trinity veggies (onion, celery and carrot) but I really love the extra flavor they bring so I almost always use them when making soups.