“Let’s Make Some Soup Cause The Weather’s Turning Cold”

“Almost a Full Moon”  inspired Soup Recipe

“Almost a Full Moon” by Hawksley Workman and Jensine Eckwall is a gorgeously illustrated book that is all about a grandmother and grandson who make some soup and invite everyone over to enjoy it with them.  It is all centered around the beautiful metaphor of the soup representing love, inclusion, warmth and acceptance.  I love this book so much that when I reached the page spread that   lists all the ingredients of the soup (pictured below), I knew in that moment that I simply had to make a soup inspired by this wonderful book.  They are such delicious fall ingredients: pepper, parsnip, carrots, garlic, pumpkin, turkey broth, bay leaf, and potatoes.  Therefore, I made a soup and I am SO excited to share it with you.  I think that reading this book and making the soup together will be a new family tradition of ours that we will do every year when the weather starts to turn cold.

This recipe is super simple.  The only really work is in prepping a few ingredients, then you just plop it all in a crock pot and let it do its flavor-melding magic.  Because this is a soup recipe I pureed the pumpkin before adding it in.  You could substitute fresh pureed pumpkin for canned pureed pumpkin and be just fine.  If you do choose to go with fresh pumpkin and are new with pureeing it, I included the instructions in the recipe.  They are the same as the ones that you can get on the sticker at the bottom of pie pumpkins for making pumpkin pie.  In fact, I used a pie pumpkin for this recipe and it tasted fantastic!

Now, here are the instructions for the pureed pumpkin.  (This can be done a day or two before if desired.) Start by cutting the stem off the pumpkin and then cut it in half. Scoop out all of the seeds and strings and place cut-side down on a foil lined baking sheet. Cover in foil and bake at 350 degrees until tender. This will be about 1 1/2 hours.  After the pumpkin has cooled, scoop out the flesh and puree it with a potato masher by hand, a blender, or food processor until smooth. Measure out 1 cup and set aside for the soup.

Now for the soup.  Place the potatoes, parsnips, carrots, red pepper, garlic cloves, bay leaf, sausage, turkey broth, and pumpkin puree in a large crockpot and give it a couple stirs. Cook on high heat for 4 hours or on low heat for 6 hours until the potatoes are tender. Then season with salt and pepper to taste and top with parsley if desired.  That’s it!  I told you it was super simple!  And it tastes amazing if I do say so myself!

Now it’s time for a small confession:  I used all the ingredients listed in “Almost a Full Moon” for this soup and ONLY those ingredients with the exception of the sausage.   I just couldn’t resist the temptation.  The smoked sausage went perfectly with all of those beautiful autumn vegetables and brought this soup to a whole new level of amazingness!  Besides, smoked sausage is considered a “winter meat”  isn’t it?  However, if you are a book purest and want to stick to the ingredients in the book, or if you are opting for a healthier soup, you can definitely choose to leave out the sausage and I promise not to judge.

To read my full review of this book and get a peek inside click here.

To purchase “Almost a Full Moon” click here.  *affiliate link

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