Friday, November 16, 2007

Old-fashioned Soups: Pumpkin Soup with Semolina

With Halloween just a fortnight behind us, there may still be an odd wedge of pumpkin in your fridge. I made a pumpkin risotto recently, and had had a lone half of a orange-fleshed pumpkin waiting in the fridge ever since then. I thought of re-making Johanna's roasted pumpkin and blue cheese quiche again. Or the simple pumpkin soup with vegetable stock. But eventually I decided to make something very unusual (to my international readers), yet typically Estonian. Milk soups - either with various grains (rice, semolina, pearl barley), pasta (macaroni or vermichelli noodles), or even vegetables (just like this beautiful summer soup by Deinin) are all common in Estonia. Granted, with the general increase of living standards and international influences, these humble soups do not enjoy the popularity they once did, but they're still very much part of the culinary heritage.

This milk soup with pumpkin and semolina can be eaten for breakfast, as a dessert or just as a light meal. It's best served warm, with a spoonful of jam, a dollop of butter or a drizzle of pumpkin seed oil (like I did), or even maple syrup (like K. did).

Ka Thredahlia tegi hiljuti kõrvitsa-mannasuppi - retsepti leiate siit. Ja ka Nami-nami blogisse võib kommentaare jätta eesti keeles:)

Milky Pumpkin Soup with Semolina
(Kõrvitsa-piimasupp mannaga)
Serves 4



500 ml milk (~ 2.5%)
300 ml water
350 g pumpkin flesh, coarsely grated
20 g or about 1.5 Tbsp wheat semolina (Cream of Wheat)
0.5 tsp salt
2 Tbsp demerara sugar

Bring milk and water to the boil in a heavy saucepan. Add pumpkin, reduce heat a little and simmer, stirring regularly, for about 15-20 minutes until pumpkin is softened.
Sprinkle in semolina, stirring to avoid lumps. Season with salt and sugar, reduce the heat further and cook for another 5 minutes, until semolina has expanded and softened.
Serve in small bowls.

9 comments:

K and S said...

on cold night, like tonight, this sounds like just the thing to have for dinner :)

Rachael Narins said...

This looks amazing. I have to try it! Of course, no milk for me...cream all the way! :-)

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Goodness, I can think of many evenings when this would be so perfect. Just warm and a little sweet but just soothing really.

Peabody said...

Never would have thought to use the semolina, good idea.

Nora B. said...

I love pumpkin and I love semolina. I've had them together in a thick pudding but not in a soup like your delicious looking one. My Aussie friends think of pumpkin as a savoury food, so I am still trying to convince them to eat pumpkin in sweets like pumpkin pie and pumpkin fudge. :-)

Shaun said...

Pille ~ I have to say that this is one of the most interesting recipes I've read, but this is because I'm trying to get my head around this being a sweet soup. It is very intriguing and makes a nice change from cookies, I'm sure!

ScienceMel said...

I like the ease of this recipe. I suspect rather than fashioning another jack-o-lantern I'll make soup instead. Would you pair this with any sweet spices like you can squash?

Pille said...

K&S - yes, it's definitely not a summer soup :)

Rachael - well, all cream might be a bit too much, actually. What about half and half? ;-)

Tanna - yes, it's warm and a wee bit sweet - and definitely soothing. But then all pumpkin soups, whether with semolina or not, are soothing imho!

Peabody - it thickens the soup and makes it more substantial and comforting..

Nora - Pumpkin Fudge? Have you got a good recipe? I saw a lovely pumpkin ice cream recipe on Elise's blog which I bookmarked, so there's still plenty of sweet pumpkin dishes to try..

Shaun - it's sweet alright. But simple and nice..

Melinda - I think you could!

Maimu N. said...

this sounds tasty!