Gluten-Free/Dairy-Free Pumpkin Soup With Croutons and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

It's fall!! It is the pumpkin season, and there are many recipes with pumpkins. One of my favorite soups is pumpkin soup, and I love it with gluten-free croutons and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Ingredients

- 1 kg peeled and cubed pumpkin (1 kg net weight after peeling)

- 1 liter gluten-free chicken stock (preferably home-made)

- 2 onions peeled and cut into chunks

- 2 carrots cut into chunks (the carrots add to the orange color)

- 1 big potato peeled and cubed

- 1 clove of garlic

-  1 tsp salt (then add more if needed)

- 2 bay leaves

- Freshly-ground black pepper

- Grated nutmeg

- 1 tsp gluten-free curry powder like McCormick (optional)

- 1 cup gluten-free soy cream like Alpro (optional)

- ½ cup pumpkin seeds

- Gluten-free croutons

Method

1. Put the chicken stock on the heat. Add the cubed pumpkin, onion, carrots, potatoes, garlic, bay leaves, and salt.
2. Cover and let it simmer for 45 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
3. Fish out the bay leaves then use a stick blender (hand-held blender) to blend the soup.
4. Make sure you get a smooth soup. Put back on the heat and add black pepper, nutmeg, curry powder (if using) and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.
5. Add the cream if using just before serving.
6. Serve in a bowl with gluten-free croutons made with gluten-free white loaf bread.
7. Toast the pumpkin seeds and add to the soup.

Yields: six portions