This pumpkin & apple soup is absolutely delicious and really easy to make. It’s loaded with good-for-you ingredients too. Pumpkin, apples, onions, carrots, celery and garlic all come together to make a creamy and satisfying soup. Ok, so all those good-for-you ingredients are cooked in bacon drippings, but you have to enjoy life a little right? Plus we need the bacon as a topping for the soup, might as well use the dripping. We serve the soup with various toppings to add a little crunch. Croutons, bacon and pumpkin seeds all make delicious companions to this pumpkin and apple soup. Enjoy!
Ingredients
4-5 Strips of Bacon, sliced into roughly 1 inch pieces
1 Medium Onion, diced
2 Medium Carrots, diced
1 Celery Stalk, diced
2-3 Garlic Cloves, minced
½ tsp. Coriander
3-4 lbs. Pumpkin, seeded, peeled and cut into roughly 2 inch pieces
2 Apples, peeled, cored and diced
6 cups Chicken Broth
Salt, to taste
Black Pepper, to taste
¼ cup Heavy Cream
Toppings
Pumpkin Seeds
Crumbled Crispy Bacon
Croutons
Instructions
Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon; cook until the bacon is crisp, about 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Once the bacon is nice and crispy, take the pot off the heat and remove the bacon using a slotted spoon. Place the bacon on a paper towel lined plate to drain. When the bacon is cool enough to handle, crumble it a little bit. Set aside.
Don’t discard all the rendered bacon grease; leave about 2-3 tbsp. in the pot. Place the pot back over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery to the pot. Cook for 5 minutes until the onions are translucent, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and coriander, cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Raise the heat to medium-high; add the pumpkin, apples and the chicken broth to the pot. Bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover and cook, simmering, for approximately 25-30 minutes (until the pumpkin is very tender and break apart easily when pressed with a fork or spoon).
Process the pumpkin & apple soup
Remove the pot from the heat. Process the soup with an immersion blender in the pot until smooth. If you do not have an immersion blender, use a blender. Do not fill the blender to the top with hot liquid, process in batches.
Taste the pumpkin & apple soup, season with salt, if needed and add a little black pepper, to taste. Stir well to combine.
Still off the heat, add ¼ cup of heavy cream to the soup, stir well to combine. Place the pot over medium heat until the soup is warmed through. Don’t let the soup to come to a boil.
Serve the pumpkin & apple soup with the desired toppings and enjoy!
Serves 6-8
Cook’s Notes:
After removing the pumpkin seeds, don’t discard them – make roasted pumpkin seeds. Separate the seeds from the stringy flesh and rinse them well. Pat the pumpkin seeds dry, toss with a little bit of oil (I use olive oil) salt, pepper, paprika or your favorite spices. Arrange the seeds on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake them in a preheated oven (350°F) until they’re dry and crunchy (start checking them after 10 minutes).
