Pumpkin Soup

Cook time 1 hour – Serves 6

Ingredients
5 Cloves of Garlic
2 T Olive Oil
1 T Butter
1 Yellow Onion
1 Carrot, chopped
1 Celery Stalk, chopped
1 T Gingerroot, chopped
1.5 Cups Dry White Wine (or more if you want to enjoy a glass as you are cooking!)
1 Large Can of Pumpkin Puree (or 2 – 15oz cans)
4 Cans Chicken Broth
2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1 -2 T Maple Syrup
Salt as needed

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Preheat oven to 350.  Make a little pouch out of aluminum foil and place it in a baking dish so it forms a cup.  Drop your unpeeled garlic cloves in the pouch; pour the olive oil over the top.  I use the aluminum foil for a quicker clean up at the end.  Toss the baking dish in the oven and roast the garlic for 30 minutes.

While the garlic is roasting, chop your onion, carrot, celery, and ginger. Don’t worry about precise cutting, it will eventually go into the blender.

Toss the butter into a soup pot and let it brown.  Once it is a caramel color toss in the onion, carrot, celery, ginger, and wine and cook until the veggies are softened and the wine has cooked out somewhat. About 10 minutes.

Add the pumpkin and chicken broth and bring it to a gentle boil.

When your garlic is done, cut off one end of each clove and squeeze the softened garlic into the pot along with any oil in the bottom of the dish. Be careful, since it came out of the oven, it will logically be hot! Continue gently boiling the soup for about 10 minutes.

Carefully, transfer the soup to a blender (in batches) and process it until smooth.  Strain the soup through a mesh sieve, pressing on the solids.  Discard the solids.  I prefer this soup to have a really thin, smooth texture so I run it through the sieve twice.  If you want it a little thicker, don’t strain it as thoroughly.  Once you are done straining, return the pot to the stove.  Add the cream and bring it back up to a gentle boil.  Right before serving, add the maple syrup and salt to taste.  Enjoy!