pumpkin time

i love the fall. i know i've said it before, but i'll say it again--i love the colors of the leaves, the crisp air, the dry smoky smell of fireplace, but the thing i love most of all are pumpkins. only once a year do they appear so ubiquitously, and that time is now. as if overnight, pumpkins have taken over. they are lining the stoops of brownstones, overflowing outside of bodegas, starring on menus all over town and are even the latte flavor du jour. i say, bring it on. pumpkin is fall's quarterback and suddenly i'm a cheerleader. so, i bought myself a nice looking sugar pumpkin at trader joe's a few days ago and finally dug in tonight.

i decided to make soup so i cut my pumpkin into approx. 2-inch pieces and put them in the oven to roast for about 25 minutes. in the meantime, i decided to cook up some pepitas with the bounty of seeds i had just inherited. that turned out to be an excellent idea. i threw the seeds into a pan that i had very lightly greased with olive oil spray ( i like the trader joe's or spectrum brand) i added sea salt, dried rosemary and a pinch of cayenne. i turned up the burner to medium high and watched the pepitas toast until they were nicely browned and crisp. they turned out so well that i had to seriously restrain myself from eating them all. they're crispy, salty, savory--just like a really good potato chip, but much better for you. yum!

i love pumpkin soup so much that i briefly contemplated naming this blog after it, but my dog's name is also pumpkin, so i realized that might be confusing for people who know that about me. i bought a pomegranate a few days ago and thought the crunchiness of the seeds might be a really nice contrast to the velvety soup. indeed.

POMEGRANATE PUMPKIN SOUP

1 small/medium sugar pumpkin

2/3 cup vegetable broth

2 tbsp fresh ginger sliced into small pieces

2 tbsps unsweetened apple sauce ( natural cinnamon flavor is recommended)

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp agave or maple syrup or brown sugar

1 pinch of cayenne (optional)

2 tbsp plain or vanilla greek yogurt

1 pomegranate

preheat oven to 425 degrees. cut the pumpkin into 2" pieces and roast for approx. 25 minutes, or until soft. when ready, add to 1 1/2 cups of vegetable broth. add ginger, spices and 1/3 of the pomegranate's seeds and let simmer for 10 minutes. transfer soup to a food processor and add apple sauce, yogurt and sweetener (you may have to do this in batches). after the soup is blended, add the rest of the pomegranate seeds and stir.