I came up with the idea to try this cream soup after seeing a similar recipe on a Facebook group.
The octopus-shaped bread bowl in which the soup is served is very sympathetic. And we are pumpkin lovers.
This soup, which has a sweet taste, seemed very interesting to us, but our great love remains the borscht because it is used in our area.
For this soup, I use pumpkin, carrots, potatoes, onion, chicken stock and spice, but the sweet taste prevails.
If you do not like sweet cream soups, you can add less pumpkin and more potatoes, according to your taste.
You can prepare this soup as a vegan dish (for vegetarians and those who hold fast) and instead of chicken stock, you can use vegetable stock.
We served it with croutons flavoured with oregano, but it is also delicious with simple croutons.
1. Time & Portions
Preparation time: 30 + 130 minutes (depends on how much the dough and the octopus-shaped bread bowl increase in the baking tray)
Cooking time: 70 minutes
Total time: 230 minutes
Portions: 4
2. Ingredients
For dough:
500g flour;
1 dry yeast sachet;
½ teaspoon sugar;
260 ml milk;
50g melted butter;
a pinch of salt ;
1 egg;
2 unpitted olives (instead of eyes);
– for brushing: 1 yolk + 3 tablespoons milk;
For cream soup:
1 kg pumpkin peeled and cut into slices;
2 tablespoons olive oil;
1 onion finely chopped;
2 cloves of garlic;
1 carrot;
1 large potato;
1 liter of chicken/vegetable stock;
salt;
pepper.
For serving:
croutons (made of 3 slices of bread, salt, pepper, oregano);
125 ml sour cream (optional).
3. Necessary utensils
– knife for chopping vegetables;
– wood cutting board for chopping vegetables;
– a stainless steel spoon;
– a 4-quarter pot;
– a baking tray;
– a stick mixer;
– a straight wooden spatula;
– gas cooker (or any other source of heating: electric or induction stove);
– electric oven.
Step 1. Making the dough
First, prepare the dough: you need yeast, ½ teaspoon sugar, 50ml hot milk, 5 tablespoons flour.
Allow to rise for 20 minutes, in a warm place.
Sieve the flour into a bowl, make a hollow in the flour and add the egg lightly beaten with a fork, ground sugar, slightly warm milk, salt and 50 g melted butter.
Knead the dough, homogenize it, and then, add the remaining butter.
Continue to knead until the dough is no longer as sticky, and it becomes elastic.
Cover the bowl with food plastic foil and let the dough rise for 90 minutes in a warm place, away from drafts.
Step 2. Making the octopus-shaped bread bowl
Once the dough has visibly increased in volume, knead slightly and divide into four equal pieces.
Cut a piece of dough and make eight tentacles, and knead the remaining dough and make a circle, then arrange on a baking tray with baking paper together with the eight tentacles.
You have to do the same with the other 3 pieces of dough.
Allow them to rise for 40-45 minutes, and then brush the dough with the beaten yolk and milk, and insert two olive slices for eyes.
Place the tray in the oven for 25 minutes until the bread bowls are nicely browned.
Step 3. Preparing the cream soup
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan at low heat and saute the finely chopped onion and diced carrot for two or three minutes.
Add garlic, salt, and pepper.
After another minute, add the pumpkin and potato, both peeled and cut into cubes.
Pour the chicken (or vegetable) stock and let the ingredients boil at low heat for half an hour.
After the vegetables have boiled well, turn off the stove and let the soup cool slightly.
Place the soup in a blender and puree (or use a stick mixer) until smooth and thick.
Optionally, you can serve it with sour cream. In this case, transfer the soup back into a pan, turn on the stove and add the liquid sour cream.
Step 4. Making the croutons
For croutons, you need day old bread that you should cut into small slices.
Put the bread slices on a baking sheet in a baking tray, sprinkle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and aromatic herbs (oregano, rosemary, etc.).
Mix vigorously the croutons with olive oil and spices and cook them in the hot oven for 15 minutes at medium heat, stirring them well every 5 minutes.
Step 5. Decorating and serving
Once the bread bowls have cooled down, cut the top of the bread and scoop and tear away chunks of bread from the interior of the loaf.
Fill the octopus-shaped bread bowl with the cream soup and serve with croutons.
Vietnamese pumpkin soup
You should also try Vietnamese pumpkin soup. In Vietnamese cuisine, rather than being served on its own, soup is almost treated like a side dish, or better yet, a beverage, something light to be enjoyed throughout the meal and to cleanse the palate between bites of the main entree.
And the Vietnamese pumpkin soup is just too simple: you need ground pork, scallions, fresh pumpkin, salt, pepper, sugar and fish sauce.
Following the authentic Vietnamese recipe, you have to prepare the meat: just mix the pork with 2 teaspoons of sugar, half a teaspoon of salt, some pepper and chopped up scallions (do not forget to reserve some), and two tablespoons of fish sauce.
Then, continue by cutting the remaining scallions and the pumpkin and remove the skin.
You will have to boil four cups of water and a little salt. Drop chunks of pork into the water and skim off the bubbles in the soup.
Season your soup: add some salt, sugar and fish sauce, adjusting quantities to your liking. Drop the pieces of pumpkin into the water.
Close the lid and cook for about ten minutes, until the pumpkin is soft. And of course, add the scallions right before serving.
If you consider a vegan soup, you may need the following ingredients instead of meat: bananas, coconut milk, mung beans, lotus seeds, wood ear mushrooms, sweet potatoes, ginger, tofu and raw peanuts.
