Halloween Supper Soup

If you have children under the age of 12 - OK, let's be realistic: If you have children under the age of 18 - supper on Halloween night is pretty much a lost cause. Either you go trick-or-treating before supper and when they get back they're too full of candy to even consider eating anything with any nutritional value, or you go trick-or-treating after supper and they're too excited or too anxious to leave to eat anything nutritious, or they're saving their appetites for candy. So whatever you serve for dinner on Halloween needs to be quick, easy, light, and preferably somewhat healthy.

This year, it looks to be a bit chilly for trick-or-treating, so I decided that a nice warm soup and some freshly-baked bread would be a delicious and light dinner before we go. This recipe, which is called "Apple Pumpkin Soup" on the website where I found it, but which I have dubbed "Pumpkin Pie Soup," because that's what it tastes like and because my kids are much more likely to eat it with that name. You can find the complete recipe on the link above or at the end of this blog entry.

Enjoy, and happy Halloween!!

The ingredients you'll need are: canned pumpkin, chicken stock, an onion, two apples, applesauce, sage, thyme, nutmeg, brown sugar, half and half, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Optional: cinnamon, ginger, maple syrup, sliced almonds, roasted pumpkin seeds, and sour cream.

 Chop the onion relatively finely and set aside.

Peel and core the apples and chop them up. The firmer they are, the finer you'll want to chop them. Everything will be blended smooth after cooking, so the most important thing is to keep them a consistent size so all the pieces soften at the same time. 

Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in the bottom of a large stockpot and saute the apples and onion for several minutes, seasoning generously with salt, until softened, 3-4 minutes. (And boy, are they fragrant! Ooh, do apples and onions smell terrific together!)

Add the chicken (or vegetable) stock, applesauce, and spices and stir to blend. Bring to a boil and cook until the apples are tender. The time will vary based on the size and firmness of your apple pieces, but 5-10 minutes should do it.

Add the pumpkin and brown sugar and stir well. Continue cooking over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.

Puree the soup using an immersion blender. If the apples are soft enough, you don't need to do it in small batches. I blended it right in the stockpot. About 20 seconds on high was all it needed to turn smooth, but still thick.

Add the half and half (or cream, or milk) and stir in, then adjust spices to taste.

I wanted my soup a little more sweet than savory, so I added about a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, a scant 1/4 tsp of ginger, and a dollop (probably about a tablespoon) of real maple syrup, and I also added a little extra salt (I used unsalted chicken broth). If your apples are quite tart, you may want to add a little more brown sugar or maple syrup; if they're fairly sweet, you can cut back on the sugar and even add a little lemon juice for tartness.

Serve with a garnish of sour cream, sliced almonds, roasted pumpkin seeds, or chopped apples.

Pumpkin Pie Soup
2 – 15 oz cans pumpkin puree
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2/3 cups applesauce
2 granny smith, or other tart apples, diced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cream or half and half
kosher salt

olive oil
Optional: cinnamon, ginger, real maple syrup, roasted pumpkin seeds, sliced almonds, sour cream

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in the bottom of a large stockpot. Add diced onion, apples and a little kosher salt. Saute until onions are translucent. Add chicken or vegetable stock, applesauce, and spices. Bring to a boil and cook until apples are very tender. Add pumpkin and brown sugar and cook for 10 – 15 minutes over medium heat. Use a submersible blender to blend soup until it is smooth. You can also use a regular blender to blend the soup in batches. Add cream to soup and heat through, but do not boil. Add more cream or water if desired to thin out more. Adjust seasonings to taste. Remove from heat and serve. Garnish with sliced almonds, pumpkin seeds, chopped apples, or sour cream.