This pumpkin soup recipe is adapted from my friend Lindsey’s recipe.  She taught me how to make this soup in high school, and I always crave it around this time of year.  Making pumpkin soup is a really easy way to get into the holiday spirit, and it also happens to be a very simple recipe.

You will need:

1 quart whole milk. Use good milk-I prefer Ronnybrook

1 onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, pressed

4 whole cloves (this is what the recipe calls for, but I used more. It just gives the soup more flavor)

1 bay leaf

4 sprigs parsley, finely chopped

2 cups canned pumpkin

1 tbs lemon juice

3 chicken bouillon cubes (I suppose you could use vegetable if you are vegetarian, although I don’t know why you would be one…)

1 nutmeg, grated

butter

salt, pepper to taste

Scald the milk with onion, garlic, cloves, bay leaf, parsley, nutmeg, bouillon cubes. Don’t let the milk boil, it will burn. Add pumpkin, salt, pepper, cook for approximately 15 minutes.** Pour through a wire strainer and add lemon. Serve with minced parsley and a thin slice of butter on each bowl.

**The recipe calls for using a double boiler, but you don’t have to go through the trouble as long as you cook the soup on low heat and stir occasionally to prevent from burning.

This makes quite a bit of soup, and in the words of Lindsey, “this recipe ends up being really cheap” if you have a stocked spice cabinet (a can of pumpkin is 99 cents). If you do buy everything for the first time, it’s worth it because you will have enough ingredients for endless quarts of soup.

Happy Thanksgiving!