Tom's Pumpkin Soup

Tom's Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

• 4 lb pumpkin
• •2 oz grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• •2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• •4 basil leaves
• •1 stalk celery
• •2 sprigs thyme
• •1 clove of garlic finely chopped
• •vegetable broth to taste
• •1 oz butter
• •salt and pepper to taste
• • Celia's Traditional Balsamic Vinegar to taste

Directions

1. Cut off the top cap of the pumpkin, remove all the seeds and "guts", prepare so you have a soup pot complete with its lid.
3. Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add chopped celery, parsley, basil and thyme. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Fill the pumpkin 3/4th of the way up with broth, the sautéed vegetables, peeled garlic and grated cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Stir well and cover the pumpkin with its top.
8. Bake at 450° F for a couple of hours.
10. Remove the pumpkin from the oven, remove the top and let cool. With a serving spoon, scrape the pumpkin off the skin mixing it slowly to the soup, to make a puree.
12. Should the puree be too thick, add some more hot stock to it.
14. Serve hot. Add a couple teaspoons (to taste) of balsamic vinegar and garnish with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.