Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Pumpkin Seeds & Goat Cheese

With Thanksgiving  approaching soon  I wanted to start planning my meal.  With the newest addition to my kitchen the Ninja Blender and attachments I wanted to see if I could use it with every recipe I will be making for the Thanksgiving table.  So the challenge begins and the first thing we will start my Thanksgiving meal off with is a “Roasted Pumpkin Soup”…

Roasted Pumpkin Soup
3 pounds sugar pumpkin, seeded and peeled
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, cleaned
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds*
1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese with dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut pumpkin into 2-inch pieces. Combine pumpkin, onion, mushrooms, and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet.  Add oil, salt and pepper; toss to coat, then spread in a single layer. Roast until pumpkin is tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about 30 minutes, rotating pan and tossing vegetables halfway through. Let cool.

Transfer vegetables to the Ninja blender and pour in 2 cups stock; push the Auto-iQ Food Puree button. Just sit back for a minute and wait.  The soup has been pureed perfectly.  Add soup to a pot with remaining 2 cups of stock. Bring soup just to a simmer and add the heavy cream. Continue simmering until heated.  Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper if needed. Serve in a bowl and top with toasted pumpkin seeds and goat cheese.  Great recipe you can make 1 or 2 days before Thanksgiving!

*I used the pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin I used to make the soup.  Here is a recipe for Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Recipe adapted from: Martha Stewart