Last weekend friends brought me a huge pumpkin, and when I say huge I mean huge!! I love pumpkin, so with the first opportunity I start baking pumpkin pies as those are my absolute favorite. Pumpkin pies are a delicious filling of pumpkin, fresh dill tips, raisins and bulgur wrapped in a crunchy pastry. For the recipe see my blogpost by clicking the link below https://www.cypruscooking.net/post/2019/10/26/pumpkin-pies-kolokotes Second favorite is this pumpkin soup, a delightful, sweet and spicy soup. Aromatic and warm, just what we need on a chilly winter night, accomplished with freshly baked focaccia. I stumbled onto this recipe one day surfing the net and it is from a well known greek chef *1. The recipe for the bread is from the recipe book that came with the kitchen machine *2.
Cut the pumpkin and you will need cleaned around 800 gr for the pies and 800 gram for the soup, clean out all the pits, wash those in a strainer and dry them, they are superfoods, roast them in their shell or without. So what to do with the rest? I like to cut large cuts and toss them with olive oil and spices and bake them in the oven with other veggies, truly delicious!
As you can see many ways of making the best out of a huge pumpkin! Many thanks to my friends!
Ingredients for the soup:
800 gr pumpking in cubes
1 tablespoon fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon dry ginger
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 liter vegetable broth, fresh or cube
40 gr butter
2 red onions
1 clove of garlic
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon of chilly flakes
Ingredients for the focaccia:
350 gr bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 gr dry yeast
210 ml bottle water
1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt, pepper and red onion slices
How to prepare:
Pumpkin soup:
Heat the oil and the butter in a medium pan, add the chopped onion and garlic and soften for 2-3 minutes.
Turn up the heat and add the spices and stir.
Add the pumpkin and the broth and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 30 minutes.
Puree with a hand blender or in a blender.
Add lemon juice, cayenne pepper, fresh thyme leaves and extra butter or fresh cream to taste by serving. (optional).
Focaccia:
Lightly oil a 25 cm shallow round cake tin or pizza pan.
Place the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl, add the water and the oil and knead, either by mixer or by hand, it should be a souple dough and may be lightly sticky.
Cover the dough with a lightly oiled cling film and a thick towel over the bowl and set aside to proof for an hour or until it has doubled in size. This depends also on the surrounding temperature.
Knock the dough back.
Shape the dough into a ball smoothing the top towards the sides and tucking it in on the bottom then sprinkle some flour on a worktop and roll the dough out into a 25 cm circle and place in the prepared tin.
Cover again with the cling film and leave to rise for about 20 minutes or until doubled in size. Using your fingertips make deep dimples over the surface of the dough. Cover and leave to rise for about 10 to 15 min.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Uncover the dough and sprinkle over some coarse salt, freshly ground pepper and thin slices of red onion, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20-25 minutes on until golden. Serve warm.
Enjoy! Καλή όρεξη!!
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ref:
*1 Akis Petretzikis
*2 Kenwood's cooking chef recipe book