Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Pumpernickel Croutons

I'm still feeling a little bit tired from our long weekend, but not too tired to make some warm comfort food.

This soup is creamy, thick, nutritious, a little spicy and has the surprise ingredient of balsamic vinegar. I think it's perfect for a crisp November day.

My original recipe calls for using a whole pumpkin - because I have a little pumpkin patch - but I simplified this for you and use canned pumpkin puree. If you'd like to use a whole, fresh pumpkin, see instructions at the end of the recipe.

Pumpkin Soup with Pumpernickel Croutons

One 15.5 ounce can pumpkin puree

One medium size butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 2 inch chunks

2 medium apples, washed, cored and cut in half, skin on

1 medium onion, peeled and quartered

2 shallots, peeled and halved

3 medium carrots, peeled, cut in half

2 stalks celery, cut in half

olive oil

salt and pepper

2 big sprigs thyme

3 bay leaves

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 cup white wine

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon each: all spice, ginger, ground cloves, nutmeg

1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the butternut squash, apples, onion, shallots, carrot, celery, thyme and bay leaves in a heavy roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

Roast in hot oven for 1 hour or until all the vegetables are soft, stirring every 20 minutes or so. Remove from oven. Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves.

Place on top of stove and over medium high heat add wine to deglaze. Add chicken or vegetable broth, balsamic vinegar and spices and cook for 15 minutes.

Puree in batches in a blender - placing pureed vegetables in a large soup pot. Add pumpkin puree to soup pot and whisk to thoroughly combine. Heat through and taste to adjust seasoning. Add salt and pepper if necessary.

Stir in 1/4 cup heavy cream (if desired), heat through, ladle into soup bowls and top with pumpernickel croutons.

Pumpernickel Croutons:

Four, one inch thick slices of pumpernickel bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Toss bread cubes with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon. Spread out on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 8 minutes, turning and tossing half way through.

If using a Whole Pumpkin:

Remove seeds and strings from pumpkin. Cut into pieces about the size of your hand. Add to roasting pan with the rest of the vegetables. When done roasting, remove pumpkin and when cooled, scrape out flesh, discarding shell. Add back to roasting pan with the rest of the vegetables and proceed with wine and broth....

A Cook's Notes: Roasting the vegetables gives this soup a nice earthy (almost smoky) taste. Start to finish only takes about 1 1/2 hours and for the most part, the oven does the work!