Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkins abound in the supermarkets these days. Yeah, I’m new around here, and sights like these surprise me.

So I went ahead and bought myself a little pumpkin, the kind called “Pie Pumpkin,” since I really am not sure if all of these gourds are actually edible or not. Then I asked my dear husband to cut it up, because really, cutting up a pumpkin is a lot of work. If you don’t believe me, just ask him.

My intention was to follow this recipe, and for the most part I did, with a few notable exceptions that actually led to a phenomenal result. First, halfway through, we called it quits on the pumpkin cutting ordeal, so our soup just had half a pumpkin rather than a whole one. Second, I didn’t drain out the water because it looked too yummy to discard. Third, instead of onion I used leeks (other recipes call for leeks, and I had gone out to buy some for this very meal). And fourth, I didn’t add cheese but rather a bit more butter at the end.

So here we have it. Sorry, no photos. It vanished.

But just think, there’s another half pumpkin in the fridge waiting to be used!

Ingredients:

• half a pumpkin
• 3 leeks (they weren’t too big) (onions will of course work, too)
• 2 potatoes (largish)
• olive oil
• butter
• milk
• salt
• water

Steps:

Have someone kind peel and chop up the pumpkin for you.

Heat up some oil in a large pan (I used my earthenware one) or pot, and saute the pumpkin, the sliced leeks, and the peeled and chopped potatoes.

Add a couple of tablespoons of butter and continue to saute until the leeks are soft.

Salt plentifully and cover with water. Simmer for about 15 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally.

Add a bit more water (about a cup?), raise the heat, and boil until the potatoes are cooked through.

Add some milk (half a cup, maybe?) and some butter (1 tablespoon?) and blend with an immersion blender, trying not to get splattered with hot liquid. If you don’t have a handheld immersion blender, you can use any other blender or a potato masher, or leave it as is.

Serve with bread, and as this will not be quite enough food for your family if it is anything like mine, prepare some chocolate-dipped banana chunks for dessert so that they will leave the table happy and satisfied and thanking you for nourishing them in such a delightful way.

Samfaina

I’m making samfaina to put on a pizza crust for tomorrow’s lunch. I can’t say that this is a typical recipe in any land except my own home, and even here it hasn’t been made for several years. 

First, the samfaina. I started by chopping up the tomatoes and putting them to cook in my earthenware pan with some olive oil. I added some cloves of garlic, then two zucchinis and two red bell peppers. The concoction is cooking up while the eggplant is draining. After adding the eggplant, I’ll throw in some tomatoes and let it all cook slowly for several hours.

As far as the pizza crust goes, I’ll likely use this recipe later on in the day and bake it with the samfaina as the topping. I’m not sure yet whether or not I’ll add some cheese. There is also the possibility that I’ll ditch the pizza plan and mix the samfaina  with rice, instead. Stay tuned….

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1 onion
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 2 zucchinis
• 2 red bell peppers
• 2 eggplants
• 6-8 Roma tomatoes
• salt

Steps:

Chop the onions and saute in olive oil. Add the chopped garlic. Chop the peeled zucchini and peppers and add to the pan, stirring occasionally.

Peel the eggplant, dice it, and put in a colander with plenty of salt. Allow to drain for about half an hour, while the other vegetables are still cooking.

Add the eggplants and chopped tomatoes to the pan. Simmer for a couple of hours, stirring every once in a while, until all the vegetables are thoroughly cooked. Add water, broth, or extra oil if it gets too dry.

Normally samfaina is eaten with chicken, rabbit, meatballs or cod or tuna fish. Add any of these, raw or partially cooked, to the mixture before the vegetables are done. Adjust cooking time to ensure the meat or fish are well done.

Enjoy!

Update: I did end up making the pizza crust for this. I used about half of the samfaina in all on the two pizzas I made. I scrambled an egg and put it on one of them to add a bit of protein to their lunch. Both had grated cheese on top, and both were delicious, except that perhaps they needed a bit more salt.