What is your favorite way to eat pumpkin?

[Dixie Girl]

Luca,
No apology is necessary. I look forward to the recipe whenever you can post it. From reading the gnocchi recipe it's no wonder people come ravenous to your dinners, it "reads" delicious.

Julie

[JIMMY@SCHUTEN.COM]

On a plate with real whipped cream...

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Wow I never really knew JUST how versatile pumpkin really is thanks for sharing all your neat recipes and ideas everyone!!!

[cookie]

I LOVE JUST PUMPLKIN PIE WITH WHIPPED CREAM~~ IT'S THE BEST!!

CATHY, YOUR NEW DOG IS SO CUTE!! CONGRADULATIONS! Cookie

[lucasantoro]

Ciao julie,

as promised here is the recipe for you! Actually i don't think you'll get upset if someone else tries it

Zuppa di zucca e gamberoni (Pumpkin and king prawn soup)

Ingredients:

1k Pumpkin
300-400g Potatoes
16 fresh King Prown (In Switzerland I’m sometime obliged to use de-frozen one because we are surrounded by mountains, sigh!)
2 mid sized Tomatoes
3 Garlick Cloves
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper
3-4 Pepper grains
Chili pepper if you like

In a pan put a splash of oil, the pepper grains and a smashed garlic Clove (and chili if you like it), don’t heat the pan just warm it very gently, it will help the garlic releasing his flavour while we remove head and skin from the prawns (devein them as well if you are patient enough). Once you have collected the all the heads and skin, heat up the pan and put them in, wait and mix until the change color, then add the tomatoes split in 2 or 4 pieces and cover with cold water, cover and let it go.

Now chop the pumpkin and the potatoes, put them in a pot, cover with cold water and let it cook until the potatoes soften, then pass them in a food processor, you have to obtain a creamy soup, hence if it is to thick add some water, if it is to liquid, just cook it a bit more

Chop a garlic clove in small pieces and put it in a bowl with oil, salt pepper and the prawn. Mix them carefully. Any time you pass by the bowl, just mix it again so that the flavour penetrates perfectly.

Uncover the pan with head and skins and let the broth reduce, you should have it cooking for at least half an hour, better for one hour.

Once it is cooked take a strainer, filter it but don’t forget to press and smash all the heads so they release all the liquid and flavour they contain. You don’t need a lot of liquid, but a concentrated flavour hence if it is too much reduce it on the heat.

We are almost ready, mix the head’s broth with the soup and again if it is to liquid let it reduce on the heat. I would not serve the soup very hot, just warm.

When you are ready to serve (meaning you already poured the soup in the dishes), heat a pan with the remaining garlic clove smashed (some chili pepper if you like), and a mini splash of olive oil, when it starts to fry, pour in the prawn and let them change color, when you have to turn them, just turn off the heat (total cooking time no more than a minute if they are fresh, if the frozen, you might need 2-3 minutes)
Add 4 prawn for each soup dish piling them in the center to make them visible.

Buon Appetito!

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Wow this sounds fabulous!!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe Luca!

[lucasantoro]

All my pleasure Cathy

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Thank you Cookie, this is a photo I found that is almost identical to our little "Duke", he is the cutest puppy EVER!!! But then I am partial and so in love

I LOVE JUST PUMPLKIN PIE WITH WHIPPED CREAM~~ IT'S THE BEST!!

CATHY, YOUR NEW DOG IS SO CUTE!! CONGRADULATIONS! Cookie

[Dixie Girl]

Ciao Luca,

Thank you for the recipe, I'm going to try it, but you really must elaborate on the part where I am to cook the "heads and skins of the shrimp" That is completely new to me. I understand what you are saying to do, but what is the purpose of it, flavor? I've never used the heads for anything put compost material

[lucasantoro]

Hi Julie,

i'm sorry that so far you wasted so much shrimp's taste

It is a technique valid for almost any fish or shellfish, the part you eat is delicious, but normally it requires a very small cooking time and it doesn't release flavour to your sauce or in our case soup. While the parts you normally put in the compost (you can still do it after ) are able to provide a lot of taste to your sauce.
Hence you can often proceed in a two way cooking, on one side you cook the part you are going to eat in the way it preserves at best is taste (very short cooking time and not too much of anything else), on the other hand you can extract all the flavour from the leftover, either making a pure broth with heads or spines and some vegetables (typically carrots, onion and celery) if you need a soft taste add on, or in the way i described you if you want a more vigorous shot)

Anyway nothing is better to prove me than try it and let me know!

Luca