Food52
Squash and pumpkins come in all sizes, from 'Baby Bear' and 'Jack be Little', both around 10-18 cm in diameter, to the monstrous 'Atlantic Giant'. They come in all shapes and colours too - the muted flesh coloured butternut; steel blue teardrop-shaped 'Blue Ballet'; dark green 'Table Queen' shaped like an acorn; fiery round 'Rouge vif d-Etampes'; dusky orange-brown 'Moschata Muscade' tasting faintly of nutmeg; the blue-black of the well-named 'Ironbark'; and the extravagantly top-knotted orange/green/white 'Turk's Turban'. The texture of pumpkin pairs deliciously with cream. This adapted recipe comes from Simon Hopkinson's book The Vegetarian Option. Based on a classic Paul Bocuse recipe, Simon Hopkinson has paired back the original reducing the dish to its essence of pumpkin, cream and cheese. My adaptation is slight. Apart from reducing the quantities to work for a smaller pumpkin, I added some fried sage leaves at the end. They work but are they necessary? Frankly, no but if you want an extra something, sage makes a good partner for pumpkin. I think the word 'soup' doesn't really describe this dish well. It's more of a creamed pumpkin. Whatever you want to call it, it is rich and absolutely delicious. I used an 'Uchiki Kuri' or onion squash weighing barely 1lb here which was enough to serve two people but 'Jack be Little' would be a good choice if you wanted to serve individual ones. It also has the advantage of a softer, edible, skin. This recipe scales up equally well for filling larger pumpkins.
