Disclosure: This recipe is part of FIJI Water’s “Perfection Takes Time” campaign. I am being compensated for my recipe development and photography; all opinions are 100% mine.
I grow Cheese Pumpkins in my garden every year and one of my favorite ways to use them is in this gorgeous-hued Pumpkin Soup.
I thought it would be a great fit for the “Perfection Takes Time” campaign because it’s not a quickie recipe (just like FIJI Water isn’t quickie water!). FIJI water is collected in a natural aquifer, the result of rainwater trickling down through layers of volcanic rock. This is a slow process that allows for the gathering of minerals and electrolytes along the way, and which results in an amazingly pure, great-tasting water. (You can learn more about FIJI Water here.)
The recipe, which I adapted from the Butternut Squash Soup with Brown Butter in The Essential New York Times Cookbook
, requires the ingredients to rest at several stages so the flavors can develop. Here’s how I recommend you time the making of this soup:
Day 1: bake the pumpkin and prep the leeks, carrots, and shallots/onion
Day 2: Prepare the soup then allow it to rest overnight
Day 3: Reheat the soup, make the fried sage leaves, and serve.
This makes a great first course any day, but will also fit right in at a holiday meal this season.
If you cannot find the variety of pumpkin that I used, substitute a winter squash such as Butternut. Sour cream makes a perfectly acceptable substitute if you don’t have crème fraîche (my “diy” crème fraîche recipe is here); the fried sage leaves are fun, but definitely optional.
Get this and other “Perfection Takes Time” Recipes on fijiwater.com.
Get a full Thanksgiving menu with recipes in my brand new eBook Fresh and Flavorful Thanksgiving.
