Caraway Pumpkin Soup by Barbara

Welcome Home Soup

Weary from our overnight flight from Hawaii and long layover in Detroit, we had no desire to go to the grocery store.  So, this caraway soup from the freezer saved the day.   It was one of my experiments from last year.  I combined pumpkin, cabbage and caraway seeds with shallots into a surprisingly good soup. 

Caraway has a background anise flavor yet it's not sweet. It's peppery with a citrus note. It is best known for its use in rye bread baking.  

I came up with the idea when I was trying to figure out what to do with a small head of cabbage that was a little past its prime. I also had a small pumpkin I wanted to roast. What if I used pumpkin instead of beets like in a borscht? It worked. This soup is much better than borscht. My caraway soup is creamy, fragrant and filling.

Tom's only complaint was the texture of the pumpkin, so next time, I will puree the soup completely.  

---Barbara

Caraway Soup

1 small to medium Cinderella-type pumpkin (3 lbs.) (or 3 15-ounce cans of pureed pumpkin)
olive oil
salt and pepper
2 large shallots, sliced into crescents
3 T. butter, unsalted
1 small cabbage, outer leaves removed, sliced crosswise 

1/4 cup caraway seeds
4-5 cups chicken stock (4 t. Roasted Chicken Better than Bouillon in water)

To roast the pumpkin:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Carefully, remove the stem and interior seeds and pulp. Cut the pumpkin into quarters.

Oil the pumpkin segments well with salt and pepper, on all sides. Place them in a roasting pan or casserole.

Roast for an hour, check to see if the flesh is fully cooked by testing with a knife. It should go in and come out with no resistence. If needed, roast for another half hour. Mine took 1.5 hours.

Remove from the oven and let it cool completely. Scoop out the cooked pumpkin, and discard the skin. But save any juices from the bottom of the roasting pan.

This can be done ahead of time.

In a large stock pot with lid --- I used an 8 quart ---saute the shallots in the 3 T. of butter with a pinch of salt. The butter will flavor the soup and the sauteed shallots will smell heavenly.

Add any pumpkin juices from the roasting pan, and deglaze the pan.

Add the sliced cabbage to the pot. Add the caraway seeds.

Saute, turning the cabbage over and over, until well coated and it begins to soften. Scrape up any brown bits in the bottom of the pot. Don't let the caraway seeds burn.

Add the pumpkin puree.

Add the chicken stock.

Bring to a boil. Cook, stirring until the pumpkin puree spreads out evenly. Cover, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes.

Remove from the heat.

Have a serving while it's still hot. Store the rest in the fridge overnight. Portion it out into containers to freeze.

Then, defrost and gently reheat as needed. 

B