Through a Washashore's Eyes

Pumpkin Picking Time

It's time again to dust off your costume or better yet invent a new one. Get into the spirit and make the holiday matter.

And when you're out there to gather your pumpkins for decorative display, find one that will fit into your oven so you can try Soup in a Pumpkin.

Harvest  Soup in a Pumpkin

First start making the soup on a stovetop then when you are finished you will pour it into a cleaned out pumpkin and bake for about an hour. As the soup is simmering in the pumpkin, the inside of the pumpkin is cooking lending its rich squash flavor to the soup.

• 1-3 medium size carrots, chopped     
• 1 can (16oz) shell beans     
• 1 medium size sweet potato, cubed
• 3-4 medium size potatoes, cubed       
• 1/4 cup macaroni                   
• 1 can (12-16 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 lb ground hamburer                      
• 1 medium size onion, diced             
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped                   
• 1-2 celery stalks, diced                       
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 packet of Goya Beef Bouillon            
• 1 tsp olive oil

In a good size stock pot over medium heat, add oil, onions, celery and green peppers and saute til tender. Add garlic, hamburger and boullion and cook. When the hamburger is cooked, drain off some of the grease. Then add 5 cups of water and the can of tomatoes.

Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Add bay leaf and potatoes to the pot and cook 5 minutes then add carrots. After another 5 minutes add sweet potatoes and macaroni. Cook for about 15 to 20 minutes until potatoes and macaroni are cooked. Then simmer another 5 minutes. At this point if you like, you could add 1/2 tsp thyme and/or basil but only if you like these spices. Let the soup sit with the burner off as you prepare your pumpkin.

Clean out a medium size pumpkin (at least one that can fit into into your oven ). As you are doing the task of scraping out the inside shell of the pumpkin, you might want to keep those seeds and reserve them for toasting later.

I should have noted before.  But before cutting the top off the pumpkin make sure that you leave the stem attached as this will serve as a handle for the pumpkin soup container. Also when cutting into the top, do so as to create an uneven star-like cut as this will keep the top from falling in when baking. 

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Then find a baking dish to hold your pumpkin, then fill in your pumpkin with  your soup. Bake for about an hour but no longer as you do not want the shell to become so soft as not to support the soup.

The shell takes on a deep harvest orange color and as you serve the soup you can scrap pieces of the roasted pumpkin enhancing the flavor of your harvest soup.

The soup is a recipe handed down to me by my parents who always made the holidays special to me as I was growing up and as it suggests is a harvest soup so you might want to adapt it to whatever vegetable you might enjoy or have harvested. I hope you enjoy it.

Roasted Seeds.............Clean off the seeds from the stringy pumpkin mass then spread them out on a shallow baking sheet. Sprinkle salt over and you might want to try some chopped garlic and crushed red pepper. Roast in the oven at 350 degrees and check frequently, stirring it around during checks to make sure that the seeds are evenly coated. When the mix is dry and toasty looking,  it's done. Let cool and serve.

Happy Halloween to you all!