I always look forward to Fall.. it’s such a wonderful time of the year. You might be surprised to know, however, that Fall in Poland really isn’t all that special. Sure, it’s still beautiful – the leaves turning colors and all.. but we don’t have any of the fun activities to do and holidays to plan for as we do in the Americas. We don’t have Thanksgiving or Halloween.. so therefore we don’t do corn mazes, haunted houses, trick or treating; not even the pumpkin patch. We only have the leaves. And Fall ingredients. This is why I was surprised how obsessed everyone was with pumpkin things when I moved here in Fall ’03. In Poland, we didn’t really do the whole “EAT EVERYTHING PUMPKIN CAUSE IT’S PUMPKIN SEASON” thing. We did grow pumpkins in our garden though.. they take a whole lot of room.
One thing I totally did look forward to in Fall was my mom’s pumpkin soup. Oh my gosh, it’s one of my favorites. It’s my favorite dessert soup ever. Seriously. And whenever I try to describe it to friends they look at me weird. Man, they don’t know what they are missing, for real. So, this recipe is not mine. It is my mom’s. She actually does it all from memory each time, kind of plays around with amounts of ingredients. The outcome usually varies depending on the pumpkin used. This time however she decided to use almond milk as opposed to using regular milk that she normally uses. The outcome was a bit more dark and heavy, as opposed to the smoother texture of a cow’s milk – thankfully, it tasted exactly the same. I literally couldn’t tell the difference in flavor. The only difference was the look – it was a bit darker. Plus this was her first time adding turmeric for color – she usually just lets the soup stay pretty light in color. The turmeric is totally optional but it definitely does give the soup a nice warm yellow color and no flavor change. Just don’t add too much of it.
I used to eat this soup warm sprinkled with a whole bunch of sugar. So darn good. Then I learned that it will taste even better if you simply add whipped cream and cinnamon. A perfect blend of flavors. Amazing. I can’t eat just one serving, I simply can’t. It’s too good to eat only one. Oopsies.
I had my mom take pictures of the process since she made it while I was on my way to their house. She did a great job at documenting the amounts of ingredients used and taking related photos of the process! She rocks. I think you’ll find her photos helpful if you decide to make this soup, and I mean, why wouldn’t you make this soup?! Get to it!
Warm Pumpkin Soup with Dumplings
by
Keywords: soup/stew snack no sugar added pumpkin
Ingredients (8 servings)
For Soup
- 1 small pumpkin (peeled, de-seeded, cubed)
- 6 cups Almond milk (we used Silk)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of turmeric (for color)
For Dumplings
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
For Soup
Put the pumpkin cubes into a large pot. Add water so that it is almost all covered, but not quite. Bring to boil. Then turn down heat to simmer, covered. (note: make SURE the heat is very low, otherwise since its covered, the contents might spill out over it).
Let simmer for about 20 minutes or so, or until the fork slides into the pumpkin very easily. Make dumplings while the pumpkin is cooking.
Turn off heat and mash the pumpkin cubes with a potato masher or an immersion blender. Add almond milk and turn the heat back on medium-high. Cook until it boils, making sure to stir it from time to time. Once it boils, you can pour the dumplings into the pot (see the method below). Cook the dumplings for 2-3 minutes while stirring. Turn off heat and add cinnamon and turmeric and stir. Cover for 10-15 minutes to thicken the soup up.
Enjoy warm. Store in the fridge and reheat on the stove when using. Top with whipped cream and cinnamon (the whipped cream provides enough sweetness for me for the dish); alternately you can sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon (how I used to eat it).
For dumplings:
Whisk eggs, add salt. Add 1/3 cup water and whisk. Add 1/2 cup flour and whisk. Add the remainder of water, whisk, and add the rest of the flour. Whisk very well until smooth. The mixture should be not too thin but also not too thick. Adjust the ingredients as necessary.
Kammie wants to know:
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What’s your favorite way to eat pumpkin?
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Have you ever made pumpkin soup? Recipe links are welcome.
Let me know in the comments below!
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Your Mom’s soup looks amazing!! I love pumpkin soup! I love the you put dumplings in it!!!! Yummy!
What a different recipe! I love this and will definitely have to try it out!
Definitely do, you won’t be dissappointed!
I have never cooked pumpkin but this just looks amazing!
How pretty!
You know I have never thought of including whipped cream on soup…this intrigues me, I would like to know more
ie I will put some on my next soup if I remember!
I mean I wouldn’t recommend it on any other soup… I don’t think whipped cream would work on any other soup I’ve ever had.
I must be missing something… are you just pouring the dumpling batter into the hot soup?
My husband loves dumpling so I would love to figure this out and try it!
Yes! I was confused whem she was explaining it to me too but that’s what you do. Just awake sure to pour it through a fork in a steady pace instead of dumping it all in there. It should be poured pretty slowly. It will break up into small parts as you stir and it’s in the pot. Those broken up pieces are the dumplings! I know, it’s weird to me too but it obviously works haha. Let me know how it works out for you if you do it!!
Thanks! I will get back to you after try it for sure.. thanks for the explanation.
Hey! We made the soup again and this time I made sure to take a video of how to make the dumplings! Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oqFypSGVTc Does this help?
Hope you make it soon!
I love classic foreign recipes, thanks so much for posting this! As a fellow Russian, I totally appreciate polish foods
It’s so interesting how here in the U.S pumpkins are so festive and seasonal, but in Eastern Europe (Russia including) it’s just another food that people eat. I’m posting a recipe for a Russian dish involving fresh pumpkin in the next few days so stay tuned!
I know right?! I’m looking forward to seeing your recipe too
Ok, I was going to ask, but I just noticed how the dumplings work in the previous comments. I’ve only made dumplings once for chicken and dumplings and they were more like biscuit dough. I like the idea of thin little dumpling pieces tho…AND topping the bowl with whipped cream and cinnamon! Totally up my alley! Can’t wait to try this!!
Hey! We made the soup again and this time I made sure to take a video of how to make the dumplings! Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oqFypSGVTc Does this help? Hope you make it soon!
The dumplings are lane ciasto, right? I haven’t heard of a pumplkin soup like this but my favourite is Sour Cherry soup – yummmm!
My mom just calls it kluski, I’ve never heard of lane ciasto, actually. I’ll ask her about that next time I see her. But DO TELL about that cherry soup please?!?
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