SOUP BLISS
Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Apple Soup
Dried Apricot, Cherries, and Raisins
Pine Nuts, Chile de Arbol, Creme Fraiche, Chive Blossoms
Come. Come closer. Look. Look deep into my soup… Experience the hypnotic quality of curry. Let dainty chive blossoms enchant you, let the smoky hot chile de arbol ignite your passions. This is no ordinary soup. It has the power to transport …to soup nirvana.
Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Apple Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 apple – peeled and sliced
- 1 shallot – sliced
- 1 t. olive oil
- 1 t. curry powder
- 10 oz. pumpkin puree
- 1 1/2 c. vegetable broth
- 1/2 c. creme fraiche
- salt to taste
In a medium soup pot, cook apple and shallot in olive oil until soft. Add curry and cook for another minute. Add pumpkin and vegetable broth, bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes. Let cool slightly then blend until smooth. Add creme fraiche and blend again. Season to taste with salt.
This soup can be served immediately – hot. Or refrigerated overnight, letting the flavors meld – and served cool. I actually prefer the cool version.
Chile de Arbol
Break open chiles de arbol and shake out the seeds. In a small saute pan, cook chiles in olive oil over medium high heat until the chiles start to turn dark. Remove from heat but let the chiles sit in the oil to continue to flavor the oil. When the oil/chile mixture comes to room temperature, remove the chiles with a slotted spoon to paper towels. Reserve the oil for the soup garnish. Drain the chiles then chop into small pieces.
Dried Fruit, Pine Nuts, Chile de Arbol
Chop dried apricots and dried cherries into smaller pieces. Toast pine nuts in a small dry pan until golden. Toss nuts with raisins, apricots, cherries and chile de arbol flakes.
Soup Garnish
Place chile de arbol oil in a squeeze bottle.
Mix creme fraiche with a small amount of water to achieve a runny consistency. Place in a squeeze bottle.
Ladle soup into bowls. Dot with creme fraiche. Use a skewer or any pointy tool to spread the creme fraiche in a pattern. Add dots of chile oil.
Soup Bliss
Sprinkle the fruit, nut, chile mixture over the soup. Finish with Chinese chive blossoms.
The Chinese chives in my garden are in bloom right now. The edible flowers have a definite garlicky-oniony flavor. In addition adding a touch of whimsical beauty, the savory flavor harmonizes with the sweet dried fruits in this soup.
Enjoy soup nirvana…
Fall Fest
featuring pumpkin
Fall Fest is a season long franchise where Food Network editors team up with bloggers to share recipes about everyone’s favorite Autumn fruits and vegetables. Be sure to check out the Pinterest Board with over 100,000 followers called Let’s Pull Up A Chair! And if this Pumpkin Apple Soup Bliss got you in the mood for all things pumpkin, you might enjoy taking a peek at other fall recipes from some fabulous bloggers below…
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Thai Pumpkin and Coconut Soup
Red or Green: Pizza with Red Chile Pumpkin Sauce, Black Beans and Fresh Corn
Devour: Easy Pumpkin Cream Sauce
Feed Me Phoebe: Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Soup
Virtually Homemade: Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino
Weelicious: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
The Lemon Bowl: Healthy Baked Mac and Cheese with Pumpkin
The Heritage Cook: Chile-Pumpkin Hummus
Dishing: Pumpkin Browns/ Pumpkin Hash Browns
In Jennie’s Kitchen: Pumpkin Scones
Cooking With Elise: Hearty Pumpkin Pasta
And Love It Too: Paleo Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
Blue Apron Blog: Baked Pumpkin Stuffed with Millet and Caponata
Dishin & Dishes: Pumpkin Pancakes with Maple Cinnamon Pecan Syrup
Domesticate Me: Harvest Pumpkin Soup with Candied Bacon
The Sensitive Epicure: Pumpkin Panna Cotta with Pumpkin Seed Brittle
FN Dish: Cook Pumpkin from the Patch
Taste With The Eyes: Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Apple Soup with Dried Fruit, Pine Nuts,Chile de Arbol
Creative Culinary: Pumpkin Beer Bread with Pumpkin Butter Spread
Gorgeous presentation Lori Lynn! I’m loving the chive blossoms scattered across the dried fruit and nut rubble.
Thanks Brandon – and you gave me another word for my culinary vocabulary. Don’t think I’ve used “rubble” before. Like it, a lot.
LL
Love the autumn color of the soup; love your use of the chive blossoms and chili oil; love that you’re enjoying your new Le Creuset pot!
FA – merci mon ami. Adore this pot, of course, you know…
LL
Just an absolutely beautiful presentation; if it tastes half as good as it looks I would be a happy girl.
Thank you Barbara – so nice to get to know you through Fall Fest. Bring on the turnips!
LL
What a gorgeous soup! It’s almost too pretty to eat!
Hi Chung-Ah – so nice to meet you. Thanks for your sweet comment.
LL
Magnificent LL! You never cease to amaze me, the flavors sound out of this world!
I know the soup tasted good but its the finishing touches and presentation that really sells it. Thanks for sharing your modus operandi.
Thanks Joan! And thank you for sharing on pinterest and Facebook too. You rock my friend.
LL
Lori Lynn, that is simply stunning. Thank you for not only a beautiful recipe but an exquisite presentation. I’ll be trying your presentation techniques at home 🙂
Thanks for your kind comment Diana – please let me know how it turns out.
LL
Oh wow love all these flavors and the soup is just goooorgeous!
Sounds like a very tasty variation of the classic pumpkin soup.
A true pleasure for the eyes and for the taste buds too 🙂
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it. I wish I had Chinese chives in my garden, I love the look of the blossoms on the soup. What a gorgeous presentation.
Do you discard the chile seeds?
Hi Bev- how are you? Yes I discarded the seeds, the chile is hot enough without them. Stop by again and check out the pancake with the chive blossoms, it’s so pretty.
Miss ya, LL
Looking good! I use garlic chive blossoms a lot as well!
This looks so decadent and amazing! Perfect for cold winter days!
Very nice, Lori Lynn. Pumpkin and winter squash go well with many spices and other flavors and you chose a great combination. The surface decoration is just lovely.
You have turned one of my favorite soups into a true work of art.
This soup is beautiful! I love the chive blossoms. Fun doing Fall Fest with you 🙂
This looks soooooooooo wonderful. I like the big white plate, too. This looks like a soup that we can eat at a very high-quality restaurant. The decoration is amazing.
i am at a loss for words! this is gorgeous!
xx
Brava! Stunning, simply stunning.
I am definitely making this soup! You definitely took Pumpkin soup to a whole new level! Absolutely gorgeous!
This is truly DELICIOUS
I can’t wait to make again… the coolness of the creme fraiche, the heat of the chili … all goes so well together.
I may try to add some brown butter to the top of the soup as well next time
Jackson – thank you so much for taking the time to let me know that you enjoyed my recipe. You made my day.
Ooh, brown butter sounds like a nice addition!
LL
This would be the most beautiful looking soup I ever came across! Truly brilliant presentation- great work!
I just stumbled upon this dish and it is such a bliss, for all senses…
grateful for the share feels too small so please allow me to just copy paste what i typed under this pinned recipe… “serious props to this blogger… 1) she clearly understands flavor combinations, 2) food porn level images, 3) chile specific, 4) while i am not one for tweezer-required platings, i find that i am hypnotized by her color palette and spacing. there is enough here for a food geek to wander off and die happy. chic. sexy. delicious. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ “
What a presentation; The flavors sound rich with rustic touches, nicely nuanced between the spice and sweetness of the dish; I’m excited to try this