Pumpkin Soup

We had a great time at the Pumpkin Festival today at the Farmer's Market. It was very cold though, and the Cooperative Extension office made hot Butternut Squash Soup! Yum. I made up recipe flyers for Pumpkin Soup for today, and we ran out of them, so I will post the recipe here for those who missed out. Here it is...enjoy. Allow yourself to be creative too and serve the soup in hollowed out pumpkins!

Pumpkin Soup

1 Large Red Onion, sliced thinly, about 2 Cups
1 stick (½ Cup) unsalted butter
white pepper to taste
8 Cups coarsely chopped raw, peeled pie pumpkin pieces (2 lbs)
6 Cups chicken broth
2 TBSP Raw Rice
2 Cups heavy cream or to taste

In a kettle, cook onion in butter over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until softened and add pumpkin, white pepper and salt to taste. Cook mixture, covered, over moderately low heat 20 minutes or until pumpkin is softened. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add rice, and cook covered, over moderately low heat, 20 - 25 minutes until pumpkin is very soft. Remove kettle from heat and let stand, uncovered, 10 minutes. In blender/processor, puree mixture in batches, transferring to another kettle as pureed, and stir enough cream into soup to reach desired consistency. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Heat soup over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until hot. Serves 6-8 people, (10 Cups)