Roasted Pumpkin Saffron Soup

As soon as the weather turns cooler I immediately begin roasting everything I can get my hands on. Potatoes, chicken, apples, squash, cauliflower, greenbeans...you get the idea.

This past weekend we headed out to Hood River to collect our share of pumpkins, apples and pears. In addition to carving pumpkins we got a couple of eating pumpkins. I split one of the pumpkins in half, scooped out the seeds, and put it cut side down onto a baking pan. I added a 1/4 cup of water to help steam the pumpkin. On another pan I added some bits and bobs of veggies I had - a yukon gold potato, 1/2 a sweet potato, 2 stalks of celery, a large carrot, an onion, and an apple. I tossed these with a bit of olive oil. Both of these trays roasted at 350 degrees for about an hour.

I scooped the cooked pumpkin out of the skin, and added the rest the veggies to a soup pot. I had about 6 cups total of veggies. I added about 5 cups of broth, a pinch of salt and a pinch of saffron. After this was heated I used my hand blender to smooth out the soup. I swirled in a little cream and served it up. I feel like the saffron made it a little special. We enjoyed it with corn muffins.

Roasted Pumpkin Saffron Soup
1 large pumpkin, seeds scooped from the skin (or a large can of plain pumpkin)
1 onion, quartered
about 4 cups of assorted fall veggies, quartered (potatoes, celery, sweet potato, carrots)
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
4-6 cups veggie or chicken broth
pinch of saffron
large pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 cup cream

Heat oven to 350 degrees
1. Arrange pumpkin cut side down on a roasting pan. Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan.
2. On another pan, spread other veggies in a single layer. Drizzle olive oil over the top.
3. Roast 60 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft and the veggies have a nice browned crust.
4. Scoop pumpkin from the skin. Add to a large soup pot with the rest of the veggies. Add broth, saffron and salt and pepper.
5. Bring pot to a boil. Blend until smooth using an immersion blender.
6. Before serving stir in the cream. Don't boil again after you have added the cream.