Roasted Pumpkin Parmesan Soup

A great soup to fuel up on before trick-or-treating!  Happy Halloween :)

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh roasted pumpkin, about the average amount obtained from one pie pumpkin  (directions on roasting listed below)
3.5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
½  teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (the shredded kind, NOT powdered!)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Roasting pumpkin-

I like to roast my pumpkin whole, on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for about 40-60 minutes. The actual time will vary based on the oven's actual temperature, the moistness of the pumpkin, the variety of pumpkin and it’s size. You will know it's done when a knife slips into the flesh very easily. Let it cool a bit before slicing open - and even then, be careful when slicing open for the steam will rush out and could definitely burn. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and then scrape the pumpkin off the skins. Refrigerate until ready to use.

The soup-

Add the broth to a large pot and bring to a boil on high heat.  Add the pumpkin and garlic powder and reduce heat to low -medium and simmer for a few minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the parmesan cheese and carefully transfer the soup into a blender. If you have a smaller blender only add one fourth to half of the mixture at a time (you can put the other half in the dish until ready to blend).

A note about blending hot liquids: in order to be safe, it is recommended when you blend hot liquids that you never fill the jar more than half full, that you put the lid on and then cover it with a dry towel and hold it down by hand. Or instead, cover with the top, but leave out the center plastic covering, place a kitchen towel on top which will allow air to escape more gently Also, use as slow a speed as possible. NEVER blend hot liquids fully covered and at high-initial speed...you're just inviting burns as the hot liquid quickly blends, heats up the air above it, and causes an explosion through the blender top

Blend on low speed for 1-2 minutes, until a smooth consistency is reached. Put the blended mixture back in the saucepan and warm on low heat stirring frequently (to prevent the thick soup from spattering) for about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 4 cups, 4 servings

Serving size: 1 cup Calories 80 Protein 4 g Carb 12 g Fiber 2 g Sugars 4 g Fat 3 g Saturated fat 0  g Sodium  620 mg