Recently I stumbled upon a recipe for a Maple Apple Squash Soup on the internet. The original recipe used butternut squash and I first had to do some research to find out what butternut squash is called in German. It’s Birnenkürbis (pear pumpkin), by the way, which makes sense, since they look like really big pears.
Unfortunately my local supermarkets and grocery stores don’t carry a wide variety of pumpkins, so I eventually settled on the reliable Hokkaido pumpkin. (Side note: You won’t believe the lengths I went to just now to find out what the proper English term is. I still don’t know. Maybe it’s just pumpkin. Maybe wikipedia isn’t as great as everyone says. All I know is that the French term is potimarron, so maybe that’ll help.) I figured, since I’ve never ever handled a pumpkin before it would be save to start with the most common and pumpkin-like pumpkin I know. The Hokkaido pumpkin immediately sprang to mind.
I then proudly carried my little friend home and embarked on my first adventure with pumpkins. The one thing I’ve learned is that pumpkins are very easy to handle. With Hokkaido pumpkins you don’t even have to worry about the skin. Just cut it into pieces with the skin and cook until tender. Easy.
This is a very low maintenance soup, just perfect for a pumpkin greenhorn like me. It turns out pretty sweet, not surprisingly, since maple syrup, brown sugar and apple sauce are also added. I like to sprinkle it with chili flakes and pepper before serving to spice it up a bit.
The recipe said you should prepare the soup one day in advance, refrigerate it overnight and reheat it the next day. Though you can surely refrigerate and reheat, I don’t see why it can’t be enjoyed the very same evening it was cooked. I, at least, broke the rule and had my first bowl of soup the same evening it was cooked and I enjoyed it just as much.