This recipe is from the book Decolonize Your Diet by Luz Calvo & Catriona Rueda Esquibel. I picked up this book because I'm super interested in learning more about eating not just seasonally, but geographically. Eating what has been grown in the area you live in for hundreds or thousands of years. That is so fascinating to me. This recipe is DELICIOUS and I learned something I did not know which is that you can bake your pumpkin in the oven without doing anything but stabbing it to release steam, putting it on a cookie sheet and cooking it. So easy. The perfectly cooked body of the pumpkin (or any squash) will fall off the roasted skin. Simple. Let's get started.
Ingredients :
•7 lb cooking pumpkin / winter squash (I used my porch pumpkin) OR 3 15oz cans of pumpkin puree. (not as fun but faster)
•1 White onion, chopped
•2 TB extra virgin coconut oil
•4 garlic cloves, chopped
•1 tsp cumin seeds (toasted and ground in mortar & pestle)
•1 tsp coriander seeds (toasted and ground in mortar & pestle..do them together)
•1 -2 tsp Chipotles en Adobo (I substituted crushed dried chipotle peppers it worked fine)
•1 cinnamon stick - preferably Ceylon or canela Mexicana
•4-6 cups vegetable stock (this is real easy to make yourself btw*)
•1 tsp dried oregano - preferably Mexican (i used epazote I grew myself)
•1 tsp sea salt - more to taste. a lot more
•1/4 cup raw hulled pumpkin seeds (just use the seeds from the pumpkin you roast)
•1 TB lime juice ( I added more, a full limes worth)
•1/2 tsp pure maple syrup (this seems like a typo, you will need more like 2 or 3 TB
Garnish:
•6 leaves cilantro
•1/2 cup cashew crema or regular crema
•1/2 jar of Sweetwater Cranberry Compote
Step one: Handle that pumpkin. Preheat the oven to 375º and take out one of the racks so your beast can fit in the oven. Pierce the pumpkin 4 or 5 times to allow steam to escape. Put it on a baking sheet and bake for 60-90 min or until a knife can be easily inserted into the flesh. Allow squash to cool and cut in half. Remove the seeds. The skin will peel away so easy. Add a little oil to those seeds, separate the fibers if you don't like those, and put back in the oven to roast for 15 min or so. Be sure and turn over at some point in the process.
Step two: In a large pot on medium-high heat sauté onions in oil until they are translucent. Stir often. Add garlic, cumin, coriander, and 1 TB of the chipotle. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute. Add pumpkin, cinnamon stick, vegetable stock, oregano and salt. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium low and cook for 30 minutes.
Step three: Remove cinnamon stick from soup. With an immersion blender purée soup until creamy, or, working in batches use a blender. (this is what I did. Just be careful with the hot liquids and cover the top with a towel to be sure it doesn't explode) Pulse once and open blender to allow steam to escape. Blend in batches. If it is too thick, add a bit of water. Return soup to pot and add lime juice and maple syrup. Adjust seasonings to taste. Remember you still have some Chipotle left to add. Adjust salt, spice, acid and sweet until you hit that alchemy balance that you like.
Step four: Serve in bowls with a garnish of the toasted pumpkin seeds, crema and a dollop of Sweetwater Cranberry Compote.
Step five: Fill your belly with warm earthy nutrition.
*Veggie stock is SO easy to make. All you have to do is cook a variety of ends, onion skins, peels, and butts of all the cuttings from veggies you cooked over the week or month. Place those in a pot with several cups of water and boil for 15min or so. Strain the material out and voila, beautiful tasty fresh vegetable stock. I keep all these pieces you would normally throw in the trash or compost in a bag in the freezer so I can make veggie stock at a moments notice.
