Jamaican Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk

I saw this recipe on Gluten-Free Girl last fall; it’s adapted from Make It Fast, Cook It Slow by Stephanie O’Dea. I bookmarked it because it looked really good. Then, a few months ago, we had dinner at Anancy, a Jamaican restaurant that served us a delicious pumpkin soup with coconut milk – so at that point, I was even more eager to try that recipe I had bookmarked! I did finally get a hand mixer, and I just love it. Since I don’t have a slow cooker, though, I adapted the recipe by using a Dutch oven in a 250 °F oven.



In this case, I think that was a bit excessive – 8 hours of cooking, really? The soup tasted a little overdone. Of course, that probably works great for those who make the soup and let it cook in a slow cooker while they’re away all day, but when using a regular oven, it’s probably a little too much. I’m not sure how many hours the soup really needs to cook in order to be puréed easily, but without a slow cooker, feel free to experiment a bit (and let me know what happens!).

I didn’t have a 15-oz can of pumpkin purée (cans are always bigger in Canada), but I still used a full can, so I increased the amount of coconut milk at the end too – again, a full can. And added salt. It wasn’t quite as good as Anancy’s soup, but it was delicious nonetheless, and I’m looking forward to making it again.

a 15-ounce can of puréed pumpkin (or a bigger can)
1 red onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 yams, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp sugar
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
5 oz coconut milk (or more, depending on your taste)




Put the pumpkin, all the vegetables, the salt, spices, and sugar into the slow cooker. Pour in the liquid and stir it all up. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.





Use an immersion blender to puree the soup, either ¾ puréed, with some chunkiness inside, or all the way blended. Season with more salt, nutmeg, and whatever else your tastes dictate.