How to make Jamaican Pumpkin Soup

This recipe for Jamaican Pumpkin Soup is more like a hearty stew; a meal in itself. A favorite for the islanders and a wonderful recipe for cold weather as well.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• hubbard squash
• 1+1/2 quart chicken broth
• 2 scallion
• 1 sprig of thyme
• salt
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper
• 2 ears of corn
• 2 large potatoes
• dumplings

1. You will need 3 cups of peeled and diced Hubbard squash. There are other varieties of squash you can use, but this is one of the closest to the variety used in Jamaica. In an 8 quart cooker, boil the squash until it mashes into a thick puree.

2. Add the chicken stock, peeled and diced potato, and ears of corn cut into 2 inch pieces. Add salt to taste. Bring to a rolling boil.

3. Place the scallion and sprig of thyme on top of the soup. (Do not cut them up as you will remove before serving the soup.) Place the dumplings on the top of the soup. When dumplings are cooked, turn the heat to a simmer.

4. Carefully place a scotch bonnet pepper in the soup for flavor. Be careful not to break the skin of the pepper or the heat of the pepper will change the flavor completely. Remove the pepper before serving the soup.

5. Simmer until all the flavors are blended and the soup is thickened. Remove the pepper carefully. Remove the scallion and sprig of thyme. Soup is ready to serve.

Tips & Warnings

• Can use cheese cloth to protect the scotch bonnet, when putting in the soup and removing.
• The scotch bonnet pepper is fragile after cooking and special care is needed to remove it from the soup.