Pumpkin & Wild Rice Soup

In a hurry? Click here to JUMP TO RECIPE!

Pumpkin & Wild Rice SoupPumpkin & Wild Rice Soup

I’ve been having trouble nailing down a spot for photos in our new-ish place. The windows in the studio room are both blocked by our front porch so we don’t get much, if any, direct light in that room which has been both frustrating and also a refreshing challenge for me to try out other places of the house. Although most of the photos have been taken in our kitchen, I decided to set up a little shooting area in our garage for some ‘moody’ shots.

We’ve been calling our garage ‘the cabin’ to make it sound more appealing to our delusional minds but it’s far from livable. There are cracks of sunlight that stream through between wallboards, the floor is literally made of dirt, a big spider lives under every object in the place, and cobwebs cover every surface that is not cleaned off daily. Despite these dungeon-like conditions, it also has the most amazing filtered light with two big antique windows facing both north and south and leaving the rest of the space completely dark. There are also random antique house parts scattered throughout the garage (since we share it with our rental company) that just happen to make the most perfect props and backgrounds (like the white door I used in these photos)! This was my first photo shoot in the ‘cabin’ but I am very excited to explore it more and get comfortable with the lighting.

Pumpkin & Wild Rice SoupPumpkin & Wild Rice Soup

Today’s recipe comes from Heidi Swanon’s newest cookbook, Near & Far. I can’t even begin to say enough wonderful things about this book! She divides the book by locations that the recipes were inspired from and shoots with both digital and film (!) throughout the book. Her travel photos make you feel like you are right alongside her, experiencing these trips together. To make you feel even more connected, she has done a really wonderful behind the scenes series on the book over on her blog that I highly recommend!

Pumpkin & Wild Rice Soup recipe below:

VegetarianVenturesPumpkinSoupdouble4Pumpkin & Wild Rice Soup

Pumpkin & Wild Rice Soup
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Vegetarian
Servings: 4 to 6 servings
Author: recipe from Near & Far by Heidi Swanson
Ingredients
For the Lemon, Ginger, & Rosemary Butter:
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • Rosemary leaves from one 4-inch sprig
  • Zest from 1 lemon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the soup:
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 medium onions , diced
  • 2 large shallots , halved
  • 1 whole Serrano chili , stemmed
  • 1 Tablespoon sea salt
  • 2 1/2 pounds of diced pumpkin cut into 3/4 inch pieces (from about 1 small pie pumpkin)
  • 9 cups water or broth
  • 2 teaspoon fresh ginger (I used 2 teaspoons grated ginger since it was blended together anyways)
  • 4 cups cooked wild rice , to serve
  • Plain yogurt or toasted pepitas , to serve
Instructions
  1. For the flavored butter, heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 3 minutes or until it browns slightly.
  2. Remove from heat and add in the lemon zest, rosemary, ginger, and salt and let steep for at least 5 minutes. Strain and set aside.
  3. For the soup, melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.
  4. Add in the onion, shallots, serrano, and salt. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes, then add in the pumpkin and water / broth.
  5. Bring to a simmer and cook for fifteen minutes or until the squash is tender enough to cut through.
  6. Add in the grated ginger (or the ginger juice) and use an immersion blender to puree the soup until completely blended.
  7. Season with salt and pepper.
  8. Top with flavored butter, wild rice, yogurt, and pepita to serve.

 

Pumpkin & Wild Rice Soup

 

 

Comment

15 Comments

  • Kathryn @ The Scratch Artist
    October 1, 2015

    I think your lightning looks stunning! I love that you call your garage ‘the cabin’. Great sounding flavor in this soup.

  • Considering The Radish
    October 1, 2015

    Your pictures here are so lovely. And this soup is one of the ones I’ve flagged to try from Near and Far.

  • Hannah | The Swirling Spoon
    October 1, 2015

    Shelly, I think you may have found ‘the spot’! Gorgeous photos. And those pumpkins look rather worty, I bet they’re tasty!

  • Warm Vanilla Sugar
    October 1, 2015

    Total fall perfection!! Love the wild rice in there!

  • Kathryn
    October 2, 2015

    These are some of my favourite of your pictures – you’ve such a wonderful way of capturing the light and atmosphere. Simply stunning.

  • Alissa
    October 2, 2015

    The shots are great! Definitely worth all of the cobwebs

  • Sydney | Modern Granola
    October 2, 2015

    These photos are gorgeous! I think the lighting makes it feel like autumn. Lovely!

  • Chaucee
    October 2, 2015

    Ohhh boy this sounds amazing!

  • Laura (Tutti Dolci)
    October 2, 2015

    Love this soup, perfect for a cozy fall evening!

  • Kankana
    October 5, 2015

    We eat rice quite often but never made soup with that. Heidi’s recipes are always such inspirational and that soup looks lovely.

  • frolicchocolate
    October 8, 2015

    good god your photos are crazy gorgeous!!! you’re a photography idol, girl. i’d LOVE to shoot with you some day! photo & food retreat, yo. it needs to happen.

  • Claudia
    October 11, 2015

    How much Ginger is needed for the flavored butter?

  • Becca | Spices and Spatulas
    October 18, 2015

    LOVE these bumpy gourds. And I think your “moody” lighting is beautiful– I’m a big fan of lots of shadows. They make food look so mysterious! xo

  • 25 Healthy Vegetarian Recipes To Start The Year Right
    January 2, 2016

    […] Pumpkin Wild Rice Soup: This savory soup is complimented with cooked wild rice for a comforting soup ideal for chilly evenings. […]

  • Ceylon Pure
    June 22, 2016

    Can we use rice instead of wild rice? Perhaps heirloom red / white rice?

Leave a Reply

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.