We spent the evening by the fireplace, cozying up, watching the rain, and listening to old songs. Dinner was by the fire place too - a silky pumpkin and cashew soup, scented with fennel and coriander and finished with a little fresh orange juice. This was a filling, warming, comforting meal; perfect for a dreary fall day.
The soup is topped with a gremolata. Now traditional Italian gremolata has parsley, garlic and lemon zest – all minced and mixed together. I changed it up a little to match the soup. The soup has curry flavors, ginger and a touch of orange juice in it. To complement the soup, my gremolata has cilantro, ginger and orange zest. Just put a spoon of gremolata on top of the soup before serving. It really perks up the flavors.
A note on what pumpkin to use for this soup: Pie pumpkin is the best. Pie pumpkins are smaller and rounder than carving/halloween pumpkins. You could also use butternut squash instead of pumpkin.
You can easily veganize this recipe if you wish. Just cut out the milk and use more vegetable stock. The cashew nuts will ensure the soup is creamy even without the milk.
See the pepitas in the picture below? I toasted up the seeds from the pumpkin and served it as another topping for the soup. You could skip the pepitas if you wish and serve the soup with just the gremolata and some good crusty bread for dunking.
serves about 3
1 pie pumpkin (about 2 lbs)
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 small onion
3/4 tbsp minced ginger
1 tsp cumin or coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp paprika or cayenne powder
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 cups milk
1 cup water. Use more for thinner soup.
1/2 cup cashew nuts
4 tbsp orange juice
Olive oil
Salt
French baguette or other crusty bread to serve with soup
Pre-heat oven to 400 F. Cut the pumpkin in half. Scoop out the seeds and fibers. (Discard the fibrous insides, but you could save the pumpkin seeds to toast – about 45 minutes in a 300 F oven). Sprinkle a little salt in the cavities of the pumpkin. Drizzle about 1 tsp of olive oil into the cavities. Place the cut pumpkin halves, cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or till the pumpkin flesh is soft.
While the pumpkin in roasting, roughly chop the onion and mince ginger. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a deep pan. Add fennel seeds. When they start sizzling, add onion and ginger. Saute on medium heat till onion is translucent. Then add cumin or coriander powder, turmeric and paprika or cayenne. Cook on medium for about 2 munites.
When the pumpkin is done, scoop the flesh using a spoon (hold the hot pumpkin with oven mitts or let it cool before handling). Discard the pumpkin skin. Place the pumpkin flesh in the pan with the onion and spices. Pour in sugar, milk, water or stock and cashews and let the soup simmer for about 3 minutes. Then pour into a blender and blend into a smooth puree. Stir in orange juice and mix well. Serve with cilantro gremolata.
Cilantro Orange Ginger Gremolata Recipe
4 tbsp cilantro finely minced
1/4 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp orange zest
Salt
Mince cilantro and ginger very finely. Mix minced cilantro, ginger, orange zest and salt together.
Wow.. looks so so so tempting. Amazing photography.
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Wow…you had a soup of bowl sitting in front fire place and watching rain. Wow…tht’s amazing moments Sala.
Lovely color of your soup. Pics are so tempting.
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What about the cashews?
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
October 18th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
@Lynn D., sorry! I missed the cashews
you add them to the soup pot with the milk and water/stock and then into the blender. I added that to the recipe above. Thanks for pointing this out 
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That looks yummy!!
perfect starter for a Halloween party!!
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Very healthy and so tasty! A wonderful idea!
Cheers,
Rosa
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Rain, fireplace ,soup.. it don’t get better than this! sigh!
BEAUTIFUL pics, as usual!
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I am definitely going to try this one. I had a curried pumpkin soup at a cafe recently and have been craving to make it at home. Theirs had a strong clove flavor that was really good. Cashews are a creative choice! Love the pics as usual..
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Your photographs all look like magazine covers!
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Mmm, I make pumpkin soup often but never thought to add cashews. That sounds really lovely and creamy. Like the idea of using the pepitas too, nothing going to waste
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ahh ur pics.. such bliss to look at them in between a crazy day at work. now let me go back and check the recipe
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This sounds like a lovely soup, and the cashews sound great. The cilantro orange gremolata is perfect on top too!
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What a wonderful post! I’m a BIG fan of pumpkins and I’d LOVE to try this recipe. It does looks and sounds really fantastic, thank you for sharing!!!
p.s. So glad I’ve found your blog and I LOVE it:)
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I don’t know which one to like more, the recipe or the pictures:-) All the pictures in this post are just .. I really don’t find any finds to describe, but they are going to stay with me for a long long time – heartwarming. The pictures are talking the mood you created during the evening, & I can seriously smell the orange & the fennel.
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cashews are some of my favorite nuts! Great photo of you (is it your hand?) throwing in the seeds.
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
October 19th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
yes thats my hand
thanks!
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So pretty!! I love the lighting from the back…
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The soup looks divine!!! I so love the topping too,..excellent pictures,…
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Hi Sala, You have an absolutely wonderful blog and such lovely pictures!! I love it
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The picture with your hand dropping down seeds give new look to the pic…..looks lively…..perfect picture……love that creamy and yummy comfort bowl of soup…..
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Such a delicious pumpkin soup, I love the cashews in here! Yum! Gorgeous pictures!
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The soup and gremolata sound delicious. I always enjoy the photos, but the photo of the seeds falling onto the soup really takes the cake (soup?).
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Mmm, that picture of the bread dunking in the soup totally did me in – yum!
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Amazing photos!
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Hey Sala, you’ve been tagged! Please pick up the ‘Kreativ Blogger’ award from me at my blog!
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Mmm that soup looks incredible!
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a nice twist on all the pumpkin recipes around right now!
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That looks luscious! I’ve been topping our squash and pumpkin soups with the roasted seeds lately too – so good!
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I absolutely love your photos! They’re gorgeous and look so appetising
Love the sound of this soup too-adding cashews is an inspired move! 
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ah! Cilantro gremolata, what a nice touch… and so is the OJ in the soup.
I bake the squash/pumpkin separately too when I make a pumpkin soup, so much easier!
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Hi
I made this soup- just delicious.I used butternut squash.The only changes I made were -
adding bayleaves while the soup cooked.Also I ran out of cilantro,but had mint,so used that in lesser quantity for the gremolata.Perfect soup for the fall.My kids loved it..this will be a regular in our house.Thanks for sharing.
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