Recipes

Mediterranean Pumpkin Soup

Chef Travis Swikard makes this pumpkin soup at least once a year, and now's the perfect time to whip it up.

By Travis Swikard
Oct 19, 2021
110 Minutes
12 - 18 Servings
Easy

“I think all across the country, people have pumpkin on their mind,” says Chef Travis Swikard of San Diego’s Callie, “so in my opinion there’s no better time to make pumpkin soup.”

His recipe, imbued with a touch of Middle Eastern spice to warm you up, and an ingenious combination of pumpkin and rose, is something he loves to make at least once a year, if not more.

Best cooked in a 12 Qt Stock Pot, as people start to come home throughout the evenings, the aromas waft through the house, and it’s almost unbearably tantalizing. And because the batch is so big, you can make enough to freeze or keep in the fridge and have throughout the week. It’s the perfect quick meal or pre-dinner snack, especially in fall.

Mediterranean Pumpkin Soup

Chef Travis Swikard makes this pumpkin soup at least once a year, and now's the perfect time to whip it up.

Travis Swikard

110 Minutes
12 - 18 Servings
Easy
Ingredients
  • For the Soup
  • 5 pounds of pumpkin, cut into quarters
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 carrot, sliced
  • 1 leek, sliced
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 5 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 (1-inch) knob of ginger, sliced
  • 4 tablespoons ras-el-hanout
  • 1 gallon whole milk (or chicken stock or water)
  • 1/2 cup pomegranate molasses
  • Salt, to taste
  • Pomegranate seeds, for garnish
  • For the Rosewater Yogurt
  • 1 cup greek yogurt
  • Rosewater, to taste
Instructions
    1.

    Preheat the oven to 350F.

    2.

    Season the quartered pumpkin with olive oil and roast for one hour, or until the skin is soft and can be easily pierced with a fork or cake tester. Remove the skin from the pumpkin and set the pumpkin meat aside.

    3.

    Place a 12 QT Stock Pot over medium heat and melt the butter. Sauté carrot, leek, onion, celery, garlic, ginger until everything is soft and the onion is translucent. Add the ras-el-hanout and toast until fragrant.

    4.

    Place the pumpkin’s meat in the stock pot and add the milk.

    5.

    Simmer for 45 minutes over medium heat.

    6.

    After 45 minutes, stir in the pomegranate molasses and season to taste with salt.

    7.

    Allow the soup to cool and then transfer it to a blender. Blend for 5 minutes, or until smooth, in batches. Don’t fill up the blender more than halfway.

    8.

    In a small bowl, mix the greek yogurt with the rosewater to taste.

    9.

    Serve, and top with Rosewater Yogurt and pomegranate seeds, if you’d like.

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