A lovely lady from my church happens to have a farm up in Wisconsin and she grows several heirloom varieties of pumpkin. I was fortunate enough to get a couple of French Rouge pumpkins from her this year. Thank you Marion! The full name for this variety is Rouge Vif d'Etampes and it is a very old French heirloom. According to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds www.rareseeds.com the Rouge was the most common pumpkin in the Central Market in Paris back in the 1880s. It is beautiful to look at and is often referred to as a Cinderella pumpkin due to its resemblance to Cinderella's coach. 

As gorgeous as they are for decoration,  these pumpkins are not going to last  at my house because I have to know how they taste. Butchering was quite an undertaking, and for such a large pumpkin it had precious few seeds inside. Now I love a roasted pumpkin seed, but I'm saving some of these to plant myself next year. I can already imagine my kids' excitement over seeing these beauties pop up by our back fence.

Now Marion's pet project through the church is a mission trip down to Cuba to our sister church. We try to load them up with some basic medical supplies that they are in dire need of. So I offered to make some soup out of these pumpkins and sell in order to help fund that trip. I made two varieties- a Pumpkin Bourbon Soup and a Spicy Asian Pumpkin Soup. I made approximately 30 quarts, so these smaller-scale recipes are approximate. I also find that each pumpkin is a little different (even within the same variety), and one might need a little extra sugar while another might need a little extra acidity. So taste your soup and adjust it according to your own pumpkin's personality. Either of these recipes can be made with any pie pumpkin or butternut squash. DO NOT USE JACKOLANTERN OR CARVING PUMPKINS. They taste like crap and have a stringy nasty texture. Make sure you use a real pumpkin grown for eating, preferably an heirloom variety.

Pumpkin Bourbon Soup
2 Tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled & diced
2-3 pounds pumpkin, peeled & cubed
4 cups chicken broth or water
1/4 cup bourbon
1 bay leaf
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 lemon, juiced
1-2 Tbsp sugar or honey, to taste

In a large soup pot, sautee the onion and carrot in the butter until softened but not browned, 4-5 minutes. Add pumpkin, chicken broth or water, and bourbon. If the liquid does not cover the pumpkin, add more water until it does. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and add the bay leaf. Let simmer until the pumpkin is very soft, 30-40 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and blend- either with an immersions blender or in batches in a blender. Add lemon juice, sugar or honey, and salt & pepper to taste. If you like a creamy soup, you can add 1 cup of heavy cream, half-n-half, or milk at this point.

I'll post the Spicy Asian version next if anyone wants it.