Recipe: Pumpkin Soup, Buddist Monk's Soup, Curried Pumpkin Soup (no dairy or meat) Recipes for Peter

PUMPKIN SOUP
Yield 6 servings

1 1/2 pounds pumpkin (weighed before trimming)
1 leek, washed, trimmed, and sliced into rings
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 quart vegetable stock
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sour cream or cr me fra che, (optional)

Cut the top off the pumpkin, scoop out the seeds and strings, peel the shell, and dice the flesh.

Saute the pumpkin, leek, and potatoes in olive oil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Cover and boil the soup for 15 minutes, until potatoes are soft.

Pur e the soup and add spices and lemon juice. Ladle into bowls, top with optional sour cream or cr me fra che, and serve.

BUDDHIST MONK'S SOUP
Servings: 8

1 quart water
1 lb pumpkin or butternut squash peeled and cut into large chunks
1 sweet potato peeled and chunked
1/2 cup raw peanuts -- shelled and skinned. soaked 30 min, drained & roughly chopped
1/3 cup dried mung beans soaked 30 min and drained
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 square of bean curd
1 qt coconut milk
1/2 oz cellophane noodles, soaked 20 min, drained and cut into 1 inch sections

Boil the water and drop in the pumpkin/squash, sweet potato, peanuts and mung beans. Cook on medium heat for 35 min. While making the soup, prepare the bean curd by heating the oil in a frying pan and cooking the curd until light brown on both sides. Slice lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips and set aside.

After the 35 minutes, check the mung beans for softness. If they're soft, add the coconut milk and a touch of salt. Bring up to a boil and throw in the cellophane noodles and fried bean curd.

Serve with rice and Buddhist Nuoc Leo.

CURRIED PUMPKIN SOUP

2 small yellow onions
4 peeled chopped cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cans chicken or vegetable broth
1 can pumpkin
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 cup half-and-half
(salt and pepper to taste, but remember, the chicken broth should already have salt)

In large stockpot, cook the onion and garlic in the oil until translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add chicken broth and spices. bring to boil. Add solid pumpkin, stir constantly, bring to boil again. turn heat down to VERY low and cover and simmer about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Now, the tricky part. In VERY small batches (2 or 3 cups at a time) transfer the hot soup to your blender. Be sure to hold the lid on top of the blender and even cover it with a towel to prevent blowouts. (I've had this hot mixture spatter all over before, when I wasn't careful) Puree the mixture until totally smooth. You should notice a TOTAL change in color and texture in the "before" and "after" soup. Transfer the newly smooth, blended soup to a clean pan. After all the soup has been pureed, slowly blend in the cream. reheat the soup gently and serve immediately.

One caveat--like most foods, the intensity of the flavors (especially the red pepper flakes, which i usually am pretty liberal with) does grow after the soup has rested a day or two in the fridge. If it gets too "hot" for your palette, I suggest adding a bit of plain, sodium-reduced chicken broth.

This recipe makes a lot of soup--enough for at least 5 people to have a big bowl. Fantastic with just a simple loaf of good fresh crusty bread.