Autumn Menu: Italian Pumpkin Soup with Mascarpone 0 5

Soups with similar ingredients can be found in many national cuisines, but the presentation of the finished dish varies greatly. For example, we suggest garnishing each serving with fragrant dark green pumpkin oil and seeds roasted with garlic and pepper in the oven. This is exactly how the owner of a small cozy café in the town of San Remo — the very place where the famous song festival is traditionally held — used to do it.

Ingredients

• Raw pumpkin seeds, peeled, for serving

• 100 g butter

• 700 g pumpkin

• 1 large white onion

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 70 g Madeira

• 1 sprig of thyme

• 1.2 l vegetable broth

• 200 g mascarpone cheese

• Freshly ground white pepper

• Salt

Preparation

Step 1

Prepare the seeds for serving in advance. Pour 100 ml of water into a saucepan, add 1 tbsp of salt, 20 g of butter, and a little pepper. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Spread the seeds on a baking sheet, drizzle with the resulting mixture, and place in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times.

Step 2

Peel the pumpkin from the skin and seeds, cut it into large pieces, and place them on a baking sheet. Melt half of the remaining butter, brush it over the pumpkin pieces, place in a preheated oven at 180 °C, and roast until soft, about 30 minutes.

Step 3

Finely chop the onion and garlic. Melt the remaining butter in a heavy-bottomed pot, add the onion and garlic, and cook over medium heat, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Pour in the Madeira and let it evaporate, stirring.

Step 4

Add the roasted pumpkin, thyme, and broth, bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered over medium heat for 20 minutes. Then blend the soup with an immersion blender until smooth, add salt (remember that you have salty seeds for serving!), pepper, and mascarpone, and blend again. Serve immediately, garnished with seeds.

By the way

Italian pumpkin soup with mascarpone can also be served differently. For example, with garlic croutons baked in the oven or shrimp sautéed until golden in a pan.

Note for the Hostess

If you can't find mascarpone, buy the richest sour cream you can find — no less than 30% fat content. As a last resort, use thick heavy cream. No one promised that this would be a diet soup.