Smooth pumpkin cream (Pumpkin soup, by Philippe Laruelle)

Pumpkin is one of the star ingredients of autumn, and also the base of a basic and indispensable cream to warm you up in the cold months of the year. Today, this recipe for smooth pumpkin cream (or pumpkin soup) is here to stay in the back of the cupboard of all those who have not enjoyed it yet.

For those of you who are keen cooks, or who would like to elevate this soup in front of your guests, you will be pleased to know that this is a recipe by French chef Philippe Laruelle . You will see that there is no secret, just love and quality ingredients - it's just a matter of bringing out the delicious flavour of the pumpkin!

We cook this cream using the traditional method, in the usual and classic pots such as De Buyer , but in the final notes I also show you how to make it in a pressure cooker .

Below you will also see the step-by-step instructions for presenting the cream with a beautiful flower design - it gives a wonderful appearance when bringing the cream to the table.

De Buyer Prim Appety Stainless Steel Pot

Ingredients

• 1 kg butternut squash ("Musquée de Provence" or "Cucurbita moschata")
• 300 ml chicken broth
• 250 ml of liquid cream (18% mg)
• 80 g thick or whipping cream (35% mg)
• Olive oil
• Salt (approx. 1 cc, you can adjust it to taste)
• Ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Peel the pumpkin and cut 2/3 of its size into large cubes, removing the rind.
2. In a sauté pan or directly in the bottom of the De Buyer Prim'apetit steel pot , fry the pumpkin pieces in a few tablespoons of hot olive oil.
3. When the pumpkin pieces become golden brown (fried), add salt and chicken broth. Cover and simmer (30 to 40 minutes after the broth comes to a boil*).
4. When the pumpkin looks cooked (when it looks tender when pricked with a fork), remove from the heat and add the cooking cream. Blend with an electric mixer.
5. Adjust the salt if necessary. After a few minutes, when the heat has gone down, you can decorate the custard with whipped cream, as indicated below. Serve hot.

Filling preparation (optional, for serving time):

Cut the rest of the pumpkin into small cubes (brunoise). In a pan, sauté them over high heat in olive oil. Remove to a plate with absorbent paper and set aside.

For the presentation:

1. Decorate the cream, still in the pot that you will bring to the table, with cooking cream: you can draw a spiral, or trace a flower - below you will see how to make a drawing of a pretty flower in the easiest way.
2. Serve each diner a bowl, mini-cocotte or deep plate with a base of diced pumpkin , which you sautéed in the previous step. When serving, pour the hot soup over them. You can decorate the top with a little mascarpone cheese, chopped burrata (small pieces, or they will settle to the bottom), pumpkin seeds and/or a little black or red pepper powder.

How to decorate your pumpkin cream (or other creams)

Since it is a soft cream in texture, it is not advisable to decorate the surface with fruits or heavy foods, as they will settle to the bottom. But all creams accept a nice decoration with cooking cream. You can make circles, let it fall in the form of drops, or draw a beautiful flower. Here is how to do it:

1. Using a pastry bag, draw a spiral of liquid cream*, starting from the center and moving in circles outwards.
2. Trace lines: Using the tip of a knife, start from the center and draw straight lines outwards, leaving similar but separate spaces between each one.
3. Repeat the operation, but this time drawing lines from the outside to the center. Make them between the lines you had previously drawn.

*You can use light cooking cream or whipping cream (I prefer the latter for decoration, it has more body and holds its shape better),

Grades

• Cooking time varies depending on whether the broth was cold or already hot, and on the size of the pumpkin pieces you cut - if you cut them small, you can have them cooked in 25 minutes and the cream ready to be blended. If you cut them into very large pieces, you will need 40 minutes. But don't worry, it's easy to get it right, and difficult to overcook or undercook it (when you see the pumpkin is tender, turn off the heat).
• You can also make this soup in a pressure cooker: you will save time. All you have to do is brown the pumpkin in the bottom of the pot and, once you have added the salt and the broth, close it and let it cook under pressure. It will be ready after 15 minutes after the pressure rings have been released.
• You can add a couple or three carrots if you want, it makes a delicious cream along with the pumpkin flavor.
• If you like a thinner cream, blend more (you can also add more broth, but be aware that this will reduce the intensity of the pumpkin flavor). If you want it thicker, add carrot or a medium peeled potato when you add the broth and start cooking.