creamy coconut pumpkin soup with toasted pepitas

Pumpkin is highly seasonal and usually immediately overused once October hits.  I am a huge fan of pumpkin myself, but usually just end up roasting it with sea salt and red pepper flakes.  Although the craze of pumpkin is natural, I just think there are some recipes it doesn't need to be involved in, like hummus - for example.  Either way, I did my part in perpetuating the craze by creating these two recipes (one for Rue Magazine & one for Clementine Daily) showcasing two of my favorite ways to eat it.  Let's call it a pumpkin round-up?

CREAMY COCONUT & PUMPKIN SOUP WITH TOASTED PEPITAS AND CREME FRAICHE (Gluten-free, optional vegan)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bunch spring onion OR 1 large sweet onion
• 1 lb. or 3 heaping cups pumpkin, cubed
• 1 lb. or 3 heaping cups celeriac, cubed
• 32 fl. oz. vegetable broth
• 10 thyme sprigs
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 tablespoon sage, dried
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• 1/4 cup raw pepitas
• 1/2-3/4 cup coconut milk or cream
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt (optional)
• Sea salt to taste
• Freshly ground pepper

In a large saucepan add olive oil, garlic and onion. Sautee over medium heat for 5-7 minutes.  Slowly pour in vegetable broth with cubed pumpkin and celeriac.

Bring mixture to a boil, then add thyme sprigs, celery seed and sage. Lower to a simmer and cover for 30-35 minutes or until pumpkin is tender.

While soup is cooking, add raw pumpkin seeds to a large skillet over low heat. Stir often until pepitas are toasted and smell nutty. Set aside to cool.

When soup is done cooking, remove thyme stalks (all leaves should have fallen off during cooking) and stir in maple syrup, coconut oil and coconut cream. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Use a hand immersion blender to puree soup until smooth (or your preference of texture). Serve soup warm topped with toasted pepitas and a drizzle of greek yogurt!

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PUMPKIN RISOTTO WITH SAGE, WHITE WINE & PECORINO (Gluten-free) SERVES 4

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1 heaping cup pumpkin (kabocha squash), cubed
• 1/2 cup white wine (pinot blanc or grigio)
• 4 tablespoons fresh sage, minced
• 4 bay leaves
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 32 oz. chicken broth
• Sea salt to taste
• Fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup parmesan (plus more for topping)

Add olive oil, onion, garlic, and rice to a large saucepan or deep skillet.  Sauté over medium heat until rice becomes translucent.  Add pumpkin and sauté for 5-10 minutes or until just begins to soften.

Add white wine, sage, bay leaves, nutmeg and celery seed. Simmer mixture until and stir until rice begins to absorb liquid.  As soon as rice absorbs all liquid, add chicken brown, 1 cup at a time, stirring often.

Continue this process: adding liquid, stirring often until liquid absorbs, then add more broth.  Keep going until all broth is gone and rice is tender to the bite.  Stir in parmesan, sea salt, freshly ground pepper.  Serve immediately!

SIMPLE THINGS

I recently shot for the Gatherings feature of Simple Things Magazine.  I invited a few friends over to share a large Indian meal full of roasted, spiced vegetables, coconut curry and lots of candles.  The theme was based on the Diwali festival also known as the "festival of lights," so we made sure to load up on tea lights and decadent servewear.  This feature also gave me an excuse to spend too much money at the Indian spice market -- 15 specialty spices isn't a lot, right?

Be sure to check out the November issue to see the five (vegetarian) recipes I developed for this gathering (which may or may not include sunchoke chips with spiced red lentil dip).  Now that it's finally a consistenltly cold temperature in New York, I'm ready for soups, curry and hearty meals with friends.  You can buy or order your issue here or check out where to buy.

GLUTEN-FREE CINNAMON ROLLS

title="croll7 by Sassy Kitchen, on Flickr">

Much to my surprise, some of my family members have recently become vegan. This holiday season, lots of traditions had to be adapted for the new dietary habits that aren't just mine anymore. I took on the challenge of re-creating our Christmas morning treat of freshly baked cinnamon rolls. I always figure, If I'm going to adapt a recipe for whatever reason, I might as well make it gluten-free, too. In fact, I can't remember the last time I baked something with normal flour--it has been years.

I did a little research to see what recipes already existed for such a thing like vegan and gluten-free cinnamon rolls, when I found a blog called Cooking with Dia. She makes amazing comfort food, and cooks mostly (if not all) gluten-free and vegan. I took a look at her recipe, and the wonderful photos, and I barely adapted a thing. The recipe was amazing as is, and my family loved it, too.

GLUTEN-FREE CLASSIC CINNAMON ROLLS (Vegan opt.)

DOUGH:

4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 teaspoon unrefined sugar

1 cup warm water

1 cup non-dairy milk

2/3 cup raw cane sugar

2/3 cup butter (or Earth Balance)

2 teaspoons sea salt

3 cups oat flour

1 cup corn flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons xanthum gum

1. Mix together yeast with 1 cup of warm water and 1 teaspoon of unrefined sugar.  Set aside.  In another bowl, whisk together oat flour, corn flour, salt, baking soda, powder and xanthum gum.  By then, the yeast should be foaming. Tip the yeast mixture into the flour and combine.

2.  Add in 1 cup of non-dairy milk and mix thoroughly until dough forms.  Knead the dough for 20 minutes, or use a stand mixer with dough hook for 8-10 minutes.

3.  Once dough is done, place on a floured surgace and cover with a warm towel for 1 hour.  Once dough has risen, roll out to approximately a 16x20 rectangle.

FILLING:

1/2 cup butter (or Earth Balance), melted

1/3 granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons cinnamon

Mix both sugars with cinnamon and combine with melted butter.  Drizzle mixture evenly over the rectangle of dough.  Begin rolling up dough from the longest side, being careful to keep the filling in tact.  Once you have a long, rolled dough, use a serated knife to slice into 12 even pieces.

PAN SAUCE:

1/2 cup butter (or Earth Balance), melted

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a small bowl, mix melted butter with sugar and maple syrup until well combined.  Pour mixture into 15" rectangular pyrex pan.  Place each 12 cinnamon rolls into the pan and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.  Set aside to cool.

FROSTING:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup non-dairy milk

Place the powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Slowly whisk in milk until thick icing begins to form.  If too dry, add more milk (or if too wet, add more sugar) until you arrive at the desired consistency.  Once icing is formed, drizzle over cooled cinnamon buns and serve!

In coconut milk, cinnamon, oat flour, corn flour Tags gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, sweets, desserts, baking, cinnamon rolls

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