It’s fall y’all—and that means soup weather! I have been making this soup for a few years now, and it has always been a hit. Not only is it seriously delicious and full of fall flavors, it has the wow factor of being baked and served inside a whole pumpkin.
This would be perfect as a side dish for Thanksgiving or for a cozy soup night in. With just a few simple ingredients and a few basic tools, you can impress your friends and family with this savory, festive treat!
Equipment needed:
- Immersion blender
- A baking dish or a pie pan
I tend to use a pie pan for this recipe, as it usually fits the shape of the pumpkin perfectly.
Ingredients:
- 1 whole (3 to 4-pound) pie pumpkin
I got mine at The Fruit Basket, but most grocery stores should have pie pumpkins this time of year. Just make sure it is a pie pumpkin, as those are intended to cook with.
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small apple, peeled, cored, and diced (Use baking apples for this application; Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Braeburn are all good choices.)
- 1 cup chicken, vegetable, or bone broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 ounces goat cheese (If you don’t like the taste of goat cheese, you could substitute cream cheese or Boursin cheese. It just needs to be a soft, meltable cheese.)
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Instructions:
- Heat your oven to 375° F.
- Thoroughly wash the outside of your pumpkin.
- Make a lid from the top of the pumpkin. You will be doing this as if you are going to carve the pumpkin like a jack o’ lantern; make sure the hole is large enough to get your hand and a ladle inside as you will be needing to work on the inside of the pumpkin.
- Remove all the seeds and fibers from the inside of the pumpkin; again, this will be reminiscent of carving a jack o’ lantern.
Note: this is going to be the most complicated part of this whole recipe. Stick with it; I promise it’s worth it! - Brush the exterior of the pumpkin and the lid of the pumpkin with oil.
- Oil whichever baking dish you are using and place the pumpkin in the dish.
- Add the butter, onion, salt, garlic, apple, broth, and cream to the hollow pumpkin. Give it a slight stir to mix.
- Place the lid of the pumpkin back on and bake in your preheated oven for 1.5 hours.
- Remove the pumpkin from the oven and remove the lid.
- Carefully add in the cheese and the fresh thyme.
- Place the pumpkin back in the oven without the lid for an additional 30 minutes uncovered.
- Remove the pumpkin from the oven and use a large metal spoon to gently scrape some of the inner flesh off the walls and into the soup.
- Puree the contents of the pumpkin with an immersion blender to the desired consistency, being careful to avoid the sides and bottom of the pumpkin.
- Serve immediately and ladle straight out of the pumpkin for an impressive presentation!
I like to serve this along with a crusty bread if having it as a main dish.
Want to be extra? You could try making our delicious beer bread recipe to go along with it!
Thanks to Alton Brown for this original recipe linked here.
