Easy Pumpkin Soup

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

You’re sure to have canned or fresh pumpkin in November, so this is a soup quickly made to have ready in the fridge. I find the pumpkin taste is stronger than same recipe made with butternut squash, but hearty and warming for the cold weather. This is a soft and creamy soup, so kids don’t have to chew.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of pumpkin puree. You can use a 15 oz can of pumpkin, just be sure that the only ingredient is pumpkin, no spices or sugar.
• 1 medium to large onion, peeled and quartered
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 celery stalks, trimmed, washed and cut into chunks
• ½ cup rice
• 6-8 cups chicken stock – I use water plus Orrington’s stock concentrate, labeled gluten-free.
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried thyme.

Instructions

1. Chop carrots in a food processor. Remove and put in a pressure cooker or large saucepan.
2. Repeat with onion and celery
3. Add pumpkin to pressure cooker or saucepan, plus rice, water, stock concentrate, pepper, bay leaf and thyme. Stir all together.
4. If using a pressure cooker, I set it for 10 minutes cooking time. If using a stovetop pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for about 20-30 minutes or until vegetables are lovely and soft.
   1. Vegetables will cook quickly when they are chopped small., and rice will thicken soup.  Depending on the quantity of vegetables and how tightly the lid fits on the saucepan, liquid can evaporate.
   2. You can add some milk if soup is too thick.