Recipe for "cheese-soup1"

NAME

     CHEESE-SOUP1 - Cheese soup in a pumpkin shell
     This recipe came from the 1983 Half Moon  Bay  Pumpkin  Fes-
     tival, and was published in our local newspaper in 1984.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 6)

     1         pumpkin (big enough to hold 6-10 servings of soup)
     30 g      butter, melted
     30 g      butter
     1         large onion, chopped
     2         large carrots, shredded
     2         celery sticks, chopped
     1 liter   vegetable broth
     1         garlic clove, minced
     1 ml      salt
     1 ml      pepper
     1 ml      nutmeg
     200 ml    light cream
     120 g     cheddar or gruyere cheese, grated
     100 ml    dry white wine
     5 g       parsley, minced

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Preheat oven to  190  deg.  C.   Butter  a  baking
               sheet.
          (2)  Prepare pumpkin: cut off the top, scoop out seeds,
               brush inside with 30 g melted butter.  Replace top
               and place pumpkin on baking sheet. Bake 45 mins or
               until  tender when pierced with a fork.  The pump-
               kin should be a bit  droopy  but  still  hold  its
               shape well.
          (3)  Meanwhile, melt 30 g butter  in  a  big  saucepan.
               Add  onion,  carrots,  celery.   Saute until soft,
               about 10 mins.  Add broth, garlic,  salt,  pepper,
               and  nutmeg.   Cover, and simmer 20 minutes.  Cool
               slightly.
          (4)  Puree vegetable mixture in 2 or  3  batches  in  a
               blender  or food processor.  Put back in saucepan;
               stir in the cream. Reheat.  Add cheese  and  wine,
               heat  until  cheese  melts.  Stir frequently after
               adding milk to avoid scorching.
          (5)  Place hot pumpkin  on  serving  platter.  Pour  in
               soup.  Sprinkle with parsley.

NOTES

     Serve the soup by ladling out of the pumpkin at  the  table,
     scopping  a  little  bit  of  pumpkin into each serving. The
     pumpkin then makes a great centerpiece for your table, while
     allowing people to have second helpings.
     I use half greyere and half cheddar.  Shred the cheeses very
     finely so they will melt rapidly.
      After the soup is all gone, the  pumpkin  can  be  cut  up,
     washed,  and used in pumpkin pie. It may need more baking to
     become soft enough to puree for the pies.
     It was impossible to find pumpkins after Halloween near  San
     Francisco,  but  fortunately  they  keep  for  a month until
     Thanksgiving in a cool area if left uncut.
     In North America, light cream  is  often  called  "half  and
     half".

RATING

     Difficulty: moderate.  Time: 1 hour.  Precision: approximate
     measurement OK.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Judy Anderson
     Lucid, Inc., Menlo Park, California, USA
     decwrl!spar!edsel!yduJ