Roasted Pumpkin Soup Recipe

We're finally back home to the Bay Area after our trip to Europe. Surprisingly, the weather in Paris was a lot warmer and more pleasant than California. It's been raining quite a bit here. With Halloween coming, I picked up 3 small pumpkins and made comforting creamy pumpkin soup to ward off the cold.

The preparation is fairly easy: roast the pumpkins, add a little molasses, puréed sunflower seeds and cream and you're good to go. I paired the soup with grilled slices of baguette bread, so my husband Lulu and I could reminisce about the wonderful time we just had in Paris. I'll be posting a lot of photos of our recent trip very soon. Stay tuned!

Saffron Pumpkin Soup Served in Mini Pumpkin Bowls

I remember having a delicious velouté de potiron au safran in a French restaurant back when I was still living in Paris. I remembered it had a very nice earthy flavor of pumpkin, chanterelles, walnuts and saffron. The flavors are perfect for Thanksgiving, and given the season, I thought I'd try to recreate it.

I roasted the pumpkin to enhance and accentuate the sweetness without overpowering the soup. Instead of using potatoes as a thickening agent as I normally do, I decided to add pan-fried plantains to complement the sweetness of the pumpkin.

To match the elegant flavors of the soup, I created bowls out of mini-pumpkins for serving. The final result was as visually appealing as it was delicious, and met with a round of "oohs" and "ahs" when I brought it to the dinner table. It's a great first course, and best of all, there aren't any plates to wash when everyone's done!