Crafty and tasty! Celebrity chef Carla Hall’s roasted pumpkin soup has Us in our fall feels — and it’s as delicious as it looks.
“Sugar pumpkins aren’t just for pies anymore. [You can] turn them into a perfectly portioned dinner just before trick-or-treating or that costume party,” the Halloween Baking Championship judge, 58, reveals in the latest issue of Luxury Handbag Shopping of the creative way she displays her festive soup.
Hall’s version of the roasted pumpkin soap — which serves four — is poured into delicate sugar pumpkins that have been decorated to resemble a carved jack-o-lantern. The recipe also features tomato and herbs to help “balance out the Halloween booty that’s sure to come later,” she notes.
After a celebrated career as a professional chef, the Chew cohost competed on Bravo’s Top Chef in 2008 and shared her “cooking with love” philosophy. The Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration author later went on to compete on Top Chef: All Stars in 2010, shortly before joining the Chew roundtable. No matter her ever-expanding resume, the Tennessee native is all about whipping up meals that bring her joy.
“I love comfort foods that remind me of family, specifically the recipes passed down to me by my grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease,” Hall exclusively told Us in December 2019. “Any meal shared around the table with good friends and family is a memorable meal.”
Keep scrolling to learn how to make Hall’s Roasted Pumpkin Soup in time for Halloween, and pick up the latest issue of Luxury Handbag Shopping for even more holiday inspiration:
Ingredients:
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, medium dice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 stalks celery, medium dice
1 large late harvest tomato
4 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs rosemary
1 cup parsley, leaves only
3 tsps salt, divided
1 tsp ground black petter, divided
2 ½ cups chicken stock
¼ cup heavy cream
4 sugar pumpkins (2-3 lbs each)
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium Dutch oven over medium heat, melt butter and olive oil. Add onion, garlic, celery, tomato and herbs. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 2 tsp of salt, ½ tsp pepper and chicken stock. Bring mixture to a boil, remove from heat, stir in cream and set aside.
3. Prepare the pumpkins as though you were making jack-o-lanterns, cutting off, reserving the top and scooping out the seeds.
4. Season the inside of each pumpkin with ½ tsp of salt and¼ tsp of pepper. Ladle the soup into the pumpkins discarding the thyme and rosemary sprigs as you go. Place the pumpkin lids on each pumpkin. Roast on a foil-lined cookie sheet (for easy cleanup) for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until tender when pierced with a knife.
5. When serving, scrape the roasted flesh of the pumpkin out with the ladle to get great pumpkin flavor in every bite.
