Roast Pumpkin Soup With Edible Flowers

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This roast pumpkin soup is what you need for a special celebration, the soup is full of hearty flavours, like garlic and thyme. To make it festive it is served inside the pumpkin and topped with peppery edible flowers Nasturtium Capucines.

Flavours to add to roast pumpkin soup

Pumpkins and squash, in general, are perfect vegetables for soups as their mild and sweet pulp can be combined with a variety of flavours, herbs and spices.

In this soup, I use typical Mediterranean flavours like thyme, garlic and Gruyere cheese so it is a perfect starter for an Autumn western dinner festivity, for example Halloween or Thanksgiving.

To make it even more festive, I serve it in a pumpkin bowl and decorate with edible flowers Nasturtium Capucines.

How to make a squash bowl

Serving the soup inside a squash is the ultimate festive trick, beside the fact that it looks unbelievably pretty, you don’t have to wash the bowl afterwards. A win-win!

It is not difficult to do, you just have to be careful not to damage the skin. Don’t scoop too much pulp, you don’t need too much of it as you will be mixing it with other vegetables. You will have plenty of soup to serve inside the squash.

If you can find a small pumpkin of the size of a bowl you can use pumpkins. For this recipe, I used  Red Kuri squash as they are the perfect size for a single serving bowl. They have a nice bright orange colour and an onion shape.

You can also use a large pumpkin as a serving dish, but I would not recommend it as it can break in the middle of scooping the soup while serving.

Preparing the pumpkin

1. With a large knife cut the top off the pumpkin
2. Clean the seeds out of the top
3. Remove the seeds from the pumpkin
4. With a melon baller, scoop the pulp out making sure you do not break the skin

Roasting the pumpkin

1. Place the pulp on an oven tray covered with parchment paper
2. Add the carrots cut in chunks the same size as the pumpkin
3. Add the sliced garlic clove
4. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and add salt
5. Blend all the flavour together, mixing it all with your hands
6. Lay the sprigs of thyme on top

6. Roast in the oven at 355 F- 180 C for 40 minutes
7. Once it is done, remove thyme stems but leave the thyme on the pumpkin

Making the roast pumpkin soup

1. In a pan, stir fry the leeks with butter and olive oil
2. Once they are translucent add the potatoes and stir
3. Add the roasted pumpkin
4. And 2 cups of homemade stock
5. Let it simmer covered for 20 minutes

7. Blend the soup until smooth

Making the pumpkins soup bowl

1. Fill the pumpkins with the soup
2. Put the pumpkins on a tin covered with parchment paper
3. Sprinkle some cheese over the soup
4. Cover with the tops and put in the oven at 355 F – 180C for 20 minutes
5. Take them out of the oven and make sure the cheese is melted

6. Season with black pepper and decorate with edible flowers capucines

Tips and tricks to make the best roast pumpkin soup

• As a bowl use a small pumpkin or a Red Kuri squash
• Do not scoop too much pulp or the squash might break once cooked
• Once you roast the squash, remove the thyme stems but leave the thyme with the roasted squash
• Make sure you have something firm to serve the pumpkin, as once it has been baked, the squash will not be as solid as a fresh one
• Serve the squash bowl on a large serving bowl in case a clumsy guest breaks the squash while eating
• If you cannot find edible flowers, you can top the soup with freshly grated black pepper
• Only use edible flowers that are grown to be eaten. Flowers grown for decorations may have been treated with dangerous chemicals

When to serve this roast pumpkin soup

This soup is perfect for a dinner party, not just for its festive look. It is also very practical to make as you can prepare the soup in advance and put the squash with the soup in the oven just before serving.

Make sure you have something firm to serve the pumpkin on, as once baked, the squash will not be as solid as a fresh one. To avoid the risk of clumsy guests breaking the squash and spilling soup on the table, serve the squash over a large dish or bowl that will contain eventual spills.

The beautiful look of this soup served in squash bowl and decorated with flowers, deserve a special place for a party. Serve it as a starter at Thanksgiving and festive magic will immediately spark!

Using edible flowers

I had the opportunity to discover 4 edible flowers during a demonstration at the Escoffier centre in Villeneuve Loubet organized by ALCOTRA: the project Antea, a French-Italian cooperation to develop and promote innovative technologies for the farming of edible flowers in the French and Italian riviera.

Edible flowers are a wonderful decoration to use for a festive dinner party. Not only they add colour to a special dish but also a unique taste.

They are very versatile and you can use them in many ways, but personally, I prefer using them raw. Cooking edible flowers ruins their beauty, and it is their fresh colourful look that brings joy to a dish.

I like to use them in salads or soup, but it is very important to choose the right combination of flavours. Some flowers have a garlicky or peppery flavour and will only go with savoury dishes. While others have a more acidic flavour and can be combined with sweet dishes as well.

I was asked to come up with a recipe for 4 different edible flowers and decided to use them in soups to celebrate the arrival of the Autumn season. This is the first post of the series.

Edible flowers Nasturtium Capucines

In this roast pumpkin soup, I am using Nasturtium Capucines; they are the perfect combination for colour as well as taste.

They are in season in autumn and have a beautiful colour range from orange and yellow which add a festive touch for holidays such as Halloween or Thanksgiving.

You can eat the flower as well as the leaves. They have a peppery flavour, a perfect contrast to the smooth sweet taste of the squash pulp.

What else can you do with the Nasturtium Capucines

It is up to your imagination, I would recommend using them raw for decorating your final dishes. If you think black pepper is suitable for your recipe, then Nasturtium Capucines will also be suitable. 

Where can you buy edible flowers?

Unfortunately, edible flowers are not yet available in all supermarkets and mostly you will find them in shops that serve professionals chefs, like Metro in France and Italy. Unfortunately, you can only buy in these shops if you own a business licence.

Although edible flowers are slowly appearing in Supermarkets, they are still a novelty. In France, you may find them in some Grand Frais supermarket and I was told that Whole Foods Market has them in the USA.

I am looking for more information, so if you know where to find edible flowers near you, please share the information with a comment below. Thank you for helping!

NT: Only use edible flowers that are grown to be eaten. Flowers grown for decorations may have been treated with dangerous chemicals.

Here the edible flowers I am featuring in my posts:

1. Nasturtium Capucines: papery taste
2. Begonia: bitter taste
3. Agastache: anise taste
4. Tulbaghia: garlicky taste

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Roast Pumpkin Soup With Edible Flowers

This roast pumpkin soup is what you need for a special celebration, the soup is full of flavours with garlic and thyme and to make it festive it is served inside the pumpkin and top it with garlicky edible flowers Capucines.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time 2 hours

Servings: 2 people

Print Pin Rate

Author: Laura Tobin

Ingredients

• 2 small pumpkins Red kuri squash
• 3 leeks
• 3 potatoes
• 3 carrots
• 1 clove garlic
• 5 sprig thyme
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil for roasting
• 2 cups homemade stock brown, chicken or vegetable
• 1 cube stock
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp grated gruyere cheese
• 6 capucines flowers

US Customary - Metric

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Instructions

Preparing the pumpkin

• With a large knife cut the top of the pumpkin
• Clean the top from the seeds
• Remove the seeds from the pumpkin
• With a melon baller, scoop the pulp making sure you do not break the skin

Roasting the pumpkin

• Place the pulp on an oven tin covered with parchment paper
• Add the carrots cut in chunks the same size as the pumpkin
• Add the sliced garlic clove
• Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and add salt
• Blend all the flavour together, mixing all with your hands
• Lay the sprigs of thyme on top
• Roast in the oven at 355 F- 180 C for 40 minutes
• Once it is done, remove thyme stems but leave the thyme on the pumpkin

Making the soup

• In a pan, stir fry the leeks with butter and olive oil
• Once they are translucent add the potatoes and stir
• Add the roasted pumpkin
• And 2 cups of homemade stock
• Let it simmer covered for 20 minutes
• Blend the soup until smooth

Making the pumpkins soup bowl

• Fill the pumpkins with the soup
• Put the pumpkins on a tin covered with parchment paper
• Sprinkle some cheese
• Cover with the tops and put in the oven at 355 F - 180C for 20 minutes
• Take them out of the oven and make sure the cheese is melted
• Season with black pepper and decorate with edible flowers capucines

Video

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Notes

• As a bowl use a small pumpkin or a Red Kuri squash
• Do not scoop too much pulp or the squash risk breaking once cooked
• Once you roast the squash, remove the thyme stems but leave the thyme with the roasted squash
• Make sure you have something firm to serve the pumpkin, as once in the oven the squash will not be as solid as a fresh one
• Serve the squash bowl on a large serving bowl just in case a clumsy guest breaks the squash while eating
• If you cannot find edible flowers, you can top the soup with freshly grated black pepper
• Only use edible flowers that are grown to be eaten. Flowers grown for decorations can have been treated with some dangerous chemicals

Nutrition

Calories: 1145.35kcal | Carbohydrates: 188.72g | Protein: 29.04g | Fat: 41.3g | Saturated Fat: 10.85g | Cholesterol: 31.4mg | Sodium: 1696.89mg | Potassium: 6612.64mg | Fiber: 33.71g | Sugar: 41.83g | Vitamin A: 37037.07IU | Vitamin C: 229.6mg | Calcium: 745.23mg | Iron: 21.88mg

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More soups with edible flowers will be coming up in the next few weeks, in the meantime, you can check:

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