I have made several different pumpkin soups. This one was a real winner! I know this is not the season for it, but the scraps of paper I wrote the recipe on just percolated to the top of the pile, so here goes.
Take 1 large pumpkin and remove the seeds. Cut it up and boil until soft in a stock pot. Remove pieces and puree in a food processor. Set aside.
Finely chop 1 large celeriac in a food processor, then toss it into the stock pot to start simmering it in the reserved liquid from boiling the pumpkin.
Finely chop 1 fennel in the food processor, including the fronds, and toss it into the stock pot.
Remove the stem from 1 eggplant, then finely chop it, peel and all, in the food processor and throw into the pot.
Finely chop 3 leeks in food processor and throw it in the pot.
Slice 1 head celery and 1 pound okra in food processor and add to pot.
Add the pumpkin back into the pot. Set it up double boiler style. Continue to stew.
In a large cast iron skillet brown ~3-1/2 lbs. of ground beef in 2 T olive oil.
Season it with 2 T salt, 1/2 T black pepper and 2 T basil
Add it to the pot and stir it in.
Add 2 t nutmeg, 2 t ground cloves, 2 t cinnamon and 2 T cocoa powder
Stir regularly. Stew for a couple of hours. It serves a crowd in a very happy, healthy way!
