Bowl of Pumpkin & Apple Soup
(click to enlarge)

Pumpkin & Apple Soup


Caribbean   -   Sopa de Calabaza y Manzana
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 7 cups
***
1-1/2 hrs
Yes		 An unexpectedly delicious soup, which can be a main dish or lunch soup, vegetarian or not. If it is all puréed, it can be a soup course soup. See also Comments.




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1-1/4
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2
3
1
1/4
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Kabocha Squash (1)  
Apples, green (2)
Onion
Cubanelle Chili (3)
Chili, mild (4)
Broth (5)
Salt
Pepper
-- Garnish
Cilantro, chopped
Prep   -   (45 min)
  1. Peel KABOCHA thinly - some light green is fine. Cut into about 1/2 inch dice.
  2. Peel and core APPLES and cut into pieces of similar size to the Pumpkin. Mix the two and keep in cold water until needed.
  3. Chop ONIONS medium.
  4. Dice CUBANELLE (or substitute) very small.
  5. Dice MILD CHILIS (or substitute) very small.   Caution: If you clean the seeds and membranes out of Habaneros, immediately wash your hands, cutting board, knife, and anything else they have touched, with a strong cleanser - and don't touch your eyes for a few hours.
  6. Chop CILANTRO medium for garnish.
Run   -   (45 min)
  1. In a heavy bottomed pot sufficient for the recipe (3 qt min), stir in All items (except Garnish). Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes or so.
  2. Strain out the Solids, reserving all the Liquid.
  3. Remove about 1/3 of the Solids and set aside. Purée the rest in a food processor, blender, or Mixie with as much of the reserved liquid as needed.
  4. Return Purée and the reserved Solids to the pot. Add as much of the reserved Liquid as you think is needed and bring up hot over moderate heat, stirring fairly often to prevent sticking.
  5. Adjust Liquid as needed and check Salt.
  6. Serve hot, garnished with Cilantro.
NOTES:

  1. Kabocha Squash:

      This hard winter squash is now widely available in North America, and the one to use whenever a recipe calls for "Pumpkin". Regular orange pumpkin is for Halloween, not cooking. For details see our Kabocha Squash page.

  2. Apples, Green:

      A fairly tart apple, like Granny Smith is what you want.

  3. Cubanelle Chili

      [Italian Frying Pepper]   This mild Chili is not much available in Southern California, or some other regions of North America, so substitutions must be made. For details see our Cubanelle Chili page.

  4. Chilis, Mild

      [Aji Dulce]   This chili belongs to the Habanero family, and has the fruity flavor but no heat. They are popular in Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela, where hot chilis are not much appreciated. They may be available in Florida and New York, but not much elsewhere. For this recipe I use two Orange Habaneros, scraping out the seeds and membranes. This still gives some heat to the soup, but, this is Southern California, not Puerto Rico, and here a soup without at least some chili heat is almost unthinkable. For details see our Caribbean Chilis page.

  5. Broth:

      The pattern recipe calls for Chicken Broth, but if you want it vegetarian, this needs to be a vegetable stock. For details see our recipe Vegetarian Stock. If you are pressed for time, you can use water with a Tablespoon of Vegeta®, or for non-veg a Tablespoon of Chicken Powder.

  6. Comments:

      The pattern recipe was adapted for Puerto Rican tastes (no chili heat) from a West Indian (Caribbean) recipe that had been adapted for restaurant service as a soup course (fully puréed). My recipe is more "home style", with a lot more texture, interesting enough to be a main course or lunch soup. Due to necessary adaption with the Chilis (see above) it is also more "West Indian", with a little more heat than favored in Puerto Rico.
  7. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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