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Festive and Healthy: Butternut Squash Soup in Pumpkin Bowls

October 29, 2013   12 Comments

As we get ready to launch into holiday mode, Snack Girl is on the look out for lighter fare.

Pumpkin Bowl Soup

My pal, Laura, mentioned that she loved the idea of serving soup in a pumpkin so I decided to try it. First, I had to find small pumpkins that were edible. No problem. In the produce department of my local Stop & Shop there are “Sugar Pie” pumpkins for $2 each.

Then, I had to figure out how to peel a butternut squash. Youtube to the rescue! See here (do not listen to the incredibly cheesy music):

You can buy already peeled butternut squash in some stores but, as you know, I love a challenge.

You do not need to make the pumpkin bowls if you don’t want to. The soup is packed with 606% of your daily value of vitamin A, 13% of your daily value of iron, and 101% of your daily value of vitamin C. That is before you start eating the pumpkin!

The pumpkin bowls are a bit of a pain. Leave plenty of time for cleaning the out and wear something washable because you WILL be covered with pumpkin goop.

When you eat this, scoop out some of the pumpkin flesh as you spoon out your soup. It makes this lovely chunky, sweet, and filling dish. I didn't add the calories of the pumpkin to my nutritional analysis because I am not sure how much you will eat. I wouldn't worry about consuming too much squash, though.

Have you ever made soup in pumpkin bowls?

Pumpkin Bowl Soup

Butternut Squash Soup in Pumpkin Bowls Recipe

1.6 from 24 reviews

Makes 4 bowls and 4 servings of soup

For the bowls:
4 small baking pumpkins (such as sugar pie)
2 teaspoons sugar
salt to taste

For the soup:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 butternut squash (about 2 ½ pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon sugar
5 cups water
salt to taste

Bowls:

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Using paring knife, cut a large circle around the stem of each pumpkin. Remove the lid and scoop out the seeds and fibers. Sprinkle the inside of each pumpkin with ½ teaspoon sugar and salt. Roast for 20-35 minutes (depending on the size of the pumpkin) until tender.

Soup:

While the pumpkin bowls are roasting, melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and thyme and cook about 3 minutes until onion is soft. Add the squash and the sugar and cook for five minutes until glazed, stirring often. Add five cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until the squash is tender (about 15 minutes).

Puree soup in blender in small batches. Fill the blender about ½ full or you may have a big mess on your hands. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Soup and Bowls:

Ladle hot soup into hot bowls and garnish with croutons, pumpkin seeds, bacon, a dollop of yogurt, parsley, or anything you like to add.

One serving of soup without pumpkin bowl is 187 calories, 6.1 g fat, 3.7 g saturated fat, 35.1 g carbohydrates, 7.6 g sugar, 3.0 g protein, 5.9 g fiber, 100 mg sodium, 5 Points+

Points values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only. See all Snack Girl Recipes

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12 Comments:

Great idea!!

I peel my squash with a potatoe peeler.

I love to make wedge fries in the oven 0 pts. and I feel like I'm eating sweet potatoe fries.

Warm butternut squash soup? It doesn't get any better! I never thought of putting it in baked pumpkins - will have to give this a try - thank you for the idea!

If I want to use the pre-cut squash, how much do I need?

@Dorothy - 2-2 1/2 pounds will work. Thanks for your question!

I LOVE butternut squash soup! I happen to have one at home and I keep thinking I need to look up a recipe for the soup and here it is! Now, I just have to make it. (And add the acorn squash that I bought at the same time that I don't know what to do with.)

Sounds delicious, i heart pumpkin and squash soups. How long did it take for the butternut squash to cook? I am thinking of using a pressure cooker for this part.

@Deborah - it only took about 15 minutes. I went ahead and added that info to the recipe above - sorry I forgot about it.

Yes! I love using pumpkins, acorn squashes, and apples for vessels! They add such a festive touch, our Thanksgiving table often has included raw pumpkins for bisques, cranberry sauce and cranberry relish, tho not all at once. This year I'm using acorn squashes, 1/2 per person for individually baked stuffing! It's a vegan stuffing with onion, celery, apples, chestnuts, cranberries so they can be prepped a day ahead. Also, I will be using about 5 apples, big green granny smiths, each cored to just accommodate a 4'' chunky candle to decorate my cheese platter, mulled cidar/pumpkin bread station, and 2-3 for the dining table! My tradition is [on next day] to make apple gallettes and leftover shepherd pies [to freeze].

I haven't tried it yet but I ran across an acorn squash mac n cheese recipe that I'll be trying soon and I think I'll use the leftover pumpkin bowls [rinsed, chunked up and roasted] in place of acorn. Doesn't this look sinfully good?

http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com/2009/11/mac-and-cheese-st…

Wow! I made this for dinner tonight and it is awesome. It seemed too simple (especially using the pre-cut squash) so I was afraid it wasn't going to have much flavor. Well, I added some freshly ground sea salt at the end and it was heavenly. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing your recipes and ideas. I will use the apple and candle idea as part of my Thanksgiving decorations this year. Will you be posting the recipe that you mentioned in this post? It sounds delicious.

hey Tricia Claeys! Glad to hear you'll be doing the apple candle-holders, they are so cute. Like I said, I refrigerate them after Thanksgiving dessert, the next day I clean them up, pare, slice and make apple galettes [just a free-formed open tart, I might add snipped dates, raisins, cranberries, etc. When making pies earlier in the week I make 1 or 2 extra batches of pie dough, wrap in saran, and refrigerate til Friday, I can usu.get 4 galettes per 2-crust batch of dough]. My stuffing recipe starts with a slightly staled loaf of Pep.Farm bread, hand-cubed, set aside; saute 2 lrg diced onions, bunch of diced celery, in 1/2c smart balance [I prefer butter but I have a vegan daughter so the only non-vegan item is the bird], lots of Bell's poultry seasoning, s/p. Toss with bread cubes, add 1 jar cut up chestnuts, 1c chopped fresh cranberries, 1 chopped red apple. This year I plan to pile this into halved acorn squashes [6 halves] which will be prebaked 30 mins with a smidge of maple syrup. A final bake on day of for 30-40 mins should be just enough. I do most of my cooking kinda winging it and tasting as I go along. Hope this helps! Happy Thanksgiving early! :)

Do you have to bake the pumpkin bowls or can you just carve out and use raw, uncooked as bowls? Or is the soup (butternut squash probably) tastier and more appealing if the pumpkin bowl is roasted?

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