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Smooth orange Hokkaido pumpkin soup in a white square plate with a dollop of sour cream in the middle, spoon and fork beside it on a festive red, green and white tablecloth

Hokkaido Pumpkin Soup with Bacon

This Hokkaido pumpkin soup (also known as red kuri squash soup) is a hearty, creamy bowl in the style of German home cooking. Pumpkin, carrots, celeriac, leek and potatoes are roasted with crisp bacon, simmered in vegetable broth and blended smooth.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dinner, Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: German
Calories: 220
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1100 g Hokkaido pumpkin, washed, halved and deseeded, skin left on 1 whole pumpkin, about 2.4 lb. Yields roughly 900 to 950 g of flesh once deseeded
  • 370 g carrots 3 carrots, peeled; about 13 oz
  • 200 g celeriac peeled; about 7 oz, roughly one eighth of a bulb
  • 1 small piece of leek sliced into fine rings; weight not given in the source
  • 1 bunch fresh parsley weight not given in the source
  • 125 g diced bacon 1 pack; about 4.4 oz. Contains pork. Check the label
  • 500 g potatoes mealy (floury) if possible, washed and left unpeeled; about 4 to 5 medium potatoes, about 1.1 lb
  • 2 medium onions, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 to 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely diced optional
  • 1 tbsp butter or cooking oil 15 ml. Only if the bacon is very lean and the pot has little fat
  • 1.5 to 1.7 l vegetable broth about 6 to 7 cups, depending on how thick you like the soup. Check the label
  • 200 ml sour cream about ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp. Most of it goes into the pot, the rest is for serving (see the steps). Check the label
  • salt
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • freshly grated nutmeg generous, to taste
  • 1 to 2 tsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar 5 to 10 ml, to taste at the end
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika optional; or a small piece of fresh ginger (1 to 2 cm, finely chopped) instead
  • Styrian pumpkin seed oil, for serving optional; a few drops per plate, the taste is strong
  • sour cream, for serving optional; the part of the 200 that is not stirred into the soup. Check the label

Method
 

  1. Prepare the vegetables. Wash the Hokkaido well, halve it and scrape out the seeds and fibers with a tablespoon. Do not peel it, the skin turns butter-soft when cooked. Cut the halves into quarters, then into strips about 2 cm (¾ inch) wide.
  2. Peel the carrots and the celeriac. Scrub the potatoes well but leave them unpeeled (our tip). Cut the carrots into slices and the celeriac into pieces 1 to 2 cm (about ½ to ¾ inch) thick. Halve the potatoes if needed; small ones can be cooked whole.
  3. Halve the leek lengthwise, wash it thoroughly and cut it into fine rings. Peel and finely dice the onions and garlic. Wash the parsley, shake it dry and chop the leaves finely. The stems can be chopped very finely and cooked along if you like.
  4. Crisp the bacon. Heat a large soup pot (at least 4.5 to 5 liters, about 5 quarts) without added fat. Fry all 125 g of diced bacon over medium to high heat until crisp. Leave the bacon and the rendered fat in the pot; the bacon is blended into the soup with the vegetables later.
  5. Sweat the vegetables. If there is little fat in the pot, add 1 tbsp butter or oil. Cook the onions, garlic and leek in the fat for about 2 to 3 minutes until glassy. Add the pumpkin, carrots, celeriac and potatoes (cut as above) and the parsley, and roast them for about 5 minutes over strong heat, stirring. The roasted bits give the soup a lot more depth.
  6. Deglaze and simmer. Pour in about 1.4 to 1.5 liters (about 6 cups) of the vegetable broth, so the vegetables are well covered. Bring to a boil once, then reduce the heat and simmer gently with the lid on over medium heat for about 20 to 25 minutes, until the pumpkin, carrots and potatoes are soft (test with a knife).
    Pot of simmering soup with orange Hokkaido wedges with skin, carrot slices, leek rings, parsley and potato in a pale foamy broth with foam on top
  7. Blend. Take the pot off the heat and blend the soup fine and creamy with a hand blender.
    Pot of smooth, blended deep orange-yellow pumpkin soup after pureeing
  8. Finish. Stir 150 g of the 200 ml sour cream into the pot and keep the rest for serving. If the soup is still too thick because of the potato starch, pour in some hot broth (the remaining 100 to 200 ml). Season boldly with salt, pepper, plenty of freshly grated nutmeg and 1 to 2 tsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. Optional: stir in the 1 tsp sweet paprika or the small piece of finely chopped fresh ginger (1 to 2 cm) together with the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Be careful with the salt, because the broth and the bacon already bring some.
  9. Serve. Ladle the hot soup into deep plates or bowls and add a dollop of sour cream. Tip: drizzle a little genuine Styrian pumpkin seed oil on the plate. Only a few drops, the taste is strong.
    White square plate of smooth orange pumpkin soup with a dollop of sour cream and a dark purple-black drizzle of pumpkin seed oil, cutlery beside it

Notes

Gluten: the vegetable stock (tellofix) and the diced bacon used for this recipe are gluten-free, and the recipe lists no gluten-containing ingredients. This is not a guarantee or a certification. If you use other stock brands or other bacon, read the label of the exact products you buy, and check the sour cream, nutmeg and pepper if you need to be strict.
Note: check doneness and food safety for the bacon to your own judgment and the recommendations of your national food safety authority.
Pork: the diced bacon is pork.
Bacon: all the bacon stays in the pot and is blended into the soup. It is not a garnish.
Pumpkin: a 1,100 g Hokkaido yields roughly 900 to 950 g of flesh once deseeded. The skin can stay on.
Hokkaido is also sold as red kuri squash; the soup works with the skin on.
Potatoes: the source recipe uses mealy (floury) potatoes about half the weight of the pumpkin flesh, and we leave them unpeeled and just wash them well.
Sour cream: 200 ml (about 200 g). Only 150 g goes into the pot, the rest is for serving.
Pumpkin seed oil: Styrian pumpkin seed oil has a strong taste, so drizzle only a little.
Nutrition assumes sour cream with 10 percent fat (German saure Sahne). US sour cream is typically 18 to 20 percent fat, so the values will be higher with it.
Nutrition values are an estimate calculated from the ingredient list, not a lab analysis. They count all 200 g of sour cream and no optional extras.