Creamy Pumpkin Soup with Chips

A couple of years ago, I hated pumpkin from the bottom of my heart. My aunt and my grandmother used to cook pumpkin dessert with walnuts for our holidays. But I wasn't just into it. 

But one day, my parent and I went to Sapanca, a town in here in Turkey. Sapanca is one of my favorite places to go in autumn because the lake and the trees there are amazing during fall season. Here are some photos from Sapanca. 

Okay, let's get back to the topic. We were hungry and therefore we stopped in a restaurant. The stairs of the restaurant were covered with pumpkins and plus they served pumpkin soup and pumpkin dessert. How shocking right? :D

So, I was brave enough to try the famous pumpkin soup and it was absolutely delicious. The soup was creamy and it was not sweet as I thought it would be. I loved the soup so much that I wanted to cook it at home. So, here is the recipe, I hope you'll enjoy:

Ingredients: 
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 kg. pumpkins, peeled, cut into walnut sized cubes
700 ml. chicken stock (can be substituted with vegetable stock)
150 ml double cream
2 teaspoons cumin

For the filo pastry chips:
1 filo pastry
2 tablespoons herbed olive oil

Directions:

For the pumpkin soup:
1) Heat the olive oil in a large pot and add in 2 finely chopped onions and the garlic. Cook them for about 2-3 minutes until they are soft but are still yellowish white colored. 

2) Drain the pumpkins and when the onions are cooked, add in the pumpkins into the pot. Stir so the pumpkins will mix with the onions. Cook for 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally until the pumpkins start to soften. 

3) Pour in 700 mL of chicken stock and then season with salt and pepper. Bring the pot to a simmer and cook it for about 10 minutes more, until the pumpkins are soft enough to puree with a hand blender. 

4) Blend it all with a hand blender until you have a smooth puree. Then add in the double cream and the cumin. Cook for 3-4 more minutes. 

Recipe adapted from: Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2008


For the filo pastry chips:
1) Cut the filo pastry into small triangles, size similar to a tortilla chip. 

2) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Place the tortilla chips on the baking sheet, making sure that the chips are separate, not on top of each other. 

3) In a small bowl, add in the herbed olive oil. By using a brush, cover the chips with the olive oil. Oiling only once side of the chips is enough since the pastry is too thin. Season with salt and pepper.*

4) Bake it in oven for about 5-7 minutes until they are golden brown and crisp. 

*: You can add more spices if you want (ex. paprika, cumin, thyme...)

Serve the pumpkin soup in a bowl and with a couple of chips on top. 

Enjoy :)