Preparing to cook
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Step 1: Preparing to cook
Step 2: Preparing the pumpkin
- 1 pumpkin, kabocha, sugar pie or other eating pumpkin
Using a sharp knife and a sawing action, cut a large lid from the pumpkin. Remove the seeds and fuzzy membrane from inside and from the lid. Set the pumpkin in a baking dish. Pour 1 cup of the chicken stock into the center of the pumpkin and replace the lid.
Step 3: Baking and cooling the pumpkin
Bake the pumpkin until tender, 1 ½ to 2 hours, checking the pumpkin after the first hour. If it begins to brown around the edges, cover the surface with a piece of foil.
Once the flesh is tender, remove the pumpkin from the oven and allow it to cool for about 30 minutes.
Step 4: Making the soup
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup grated Gruyère, optional
- Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Carefully pour the hot stock from the inside of the pumpkin into a medium saucepan. Using a sharp spoon, scrape out the soft flesh from inside the pumpkin and from the lid, making sure that you don’t pierce the skin. Add the flesh to the saucepan with the remaining stock and mash the flesh with a potato masher. Stir in the cream and the cheese. For a smoother soup, use an immersion blender to purée the soup until smooth. Bring the soup to a boil and season with salt and pepper.
Step 5: Serving
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives, for garnish
Ladle some of the soup back into the pumpkin, sprinkle the chives on top, and serve.