Pumpkin is one of the star vegetables of autumn and the protagonist of one of our favorite creams, which rises to a Superior category with these tricks that we are going to teach you today so that it always looks perfect.
Pumpkin cream is an economical, healthy and very comforting dish. One of the staples in my kitchen in autumn and winter, which I prepare almost every week. I never get tired, among other things, because I always do different versions from the dish.
Vegetable creams allow many variations, and do not require special care in the measures and processes, We just have to be clear about a series of tricks that make them much tastier.
These are, in order of appearance in the recipe, the tricks I use To make spectacular pumpkin creams:
1. Peel and cut the pumpkin into small pieces
The first step of any pumpkin cream consists of peel the vegetable, Deseed it and also discard the hairs inside, which will give the recipe a too sweet flavor – they are used to make angel hair.
When making purees and creams we usually cut the vegetables into large pieces: it is less work and, in short, we are going to grind them later. But the truth is that when you cut the pumpkin into smaller piecesapproximately two or three centimeters, we will achieve that the next point turns out better.
2. Brown the pumpkin well
After peeling and cutting the pumpkin, we are going to heat a little olive oil in the pot with a lid in which we will make the cream. It is important, first of all, brown the pumpkin well everywhere and, therefore, we are interested in ensuring that the pieces are not very large. When browning the pumpkin, the Maillard reaction begins to operate and the vegetable caramelizes, which will give a more intense flavor to our cream.
3. Add other vegetables
Once the pumpkin has browned, set it aside and, in the same pot, add the rest of the vegetables from your cream. Pumpkin goes great with all vegetables of the genus Allium: garlic, onion, leek, shallots, chives… You can combine these as you like and add or not any tubersuch as potatoes, carrots, parsnips or turnips.
Like pumpkin, it’s okay brown lightly these vegetables before moving on to the next point.
4. Choose your favorite spices
Once the vegetables have browned, return the pumpkin to the pot and add some spices, to taste. There are many spices that go well in a pumpkin cream and it’s all a matter of taste. In addition to salt and black pepper, essential, the slightly sweet flavor of pumpkin goes great with nutmeg, cumin or turmeric. It also tolerates spiciness well, which can be achieved with a bit of chili flakes or paprika.
5. Cook the cream with broth
Although any cream can be cooked with just water, you gain a lot of flavor if we use broth. I usually make chicken broth on Mondays with which I first cook soup and then creams like this. Of course, you can also use a good vegetable broth (to have a vegetarian or vegan version) and, if you don’t have homemade, we won’t get fussy if you add half a cube of broth to the water.
6. Add dairy
Once all the vegetables have been cooked well, which will take about 20 minutes, beat the puree well and then add some dairy. A cream differs from a puree precisely because it contains cheese, milk, cream, or some mixture of these. It’s all a matter of taste, but I prefer to add evaporated milk or cream.
Amazon Basics Round Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven, 4 L, Red
*Some prices may have changed since the last review
7. Add a little garnish
If you have followed all these steps you will have a movie-like pumpkin cream, but there is one last detail missing to win the Oscar: a top-notch garnish. It is always good to add some type of purees to purees. crispy texture: dried onion, walnuts, seeds, croutons or even fried bacon… Any of these additions are great for pumpkin cream, which will also benefit from some acidic touch that we can achieve, for example, with some crumbled feta cheese or some pickle.
In DAP | Pumpkin soup
In DAP | Halloween pumpkin