From “Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook,” by Chris and Idie Hastings with Katherine Cobbs. The authors write “There are many names for this particular pumpkin, so look for squat, smooth-skinned varieties with a khaki hue.” Makes 8 servings.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups thinly sliced leeks (white part only)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
8 cups peeled and medium-diced pumpkin
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup chicken stock
4 cups water (more or less as needed)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Fried sage leaves for garnish (optional)
Lemon oil for garnish (optional)
Directions
Melt the butter in a heavy stockpot over medium heat. Add the leeks and thyme and cook until tender but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add the pumpkin, salt, sugar, chicken stock, water (only enough to barely cover the diced pumpkin) and pepper and bring to a boil; cover and reduce the heat to low. Allow the mixture to cook, covered, at a simmer for 10 minutes or until the pumpkins are fully cooked through and tender. Remove the stockpot from the heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly.
Transfer the pumpkin mixture to a blender in small batches and puree until smooth. Adjust the seasonings with additional salt and pepper, if needed. Ladle the soup equally into eight warm soup bowls. Garnish each bowl with a fried sage leaf and drizzle of lemon oil, if using.
