Pumpkin Soup and Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Pumpkin, pumpkin, and more pumpkin! Like I said on Monday, I will be posting a few pumpkin recipes over the next week or so. I told myself that I had until Thanksgiving to get all my pumpkin cravings out of the way. So, I made a list and started using up my pumpkin! I have gone through 2 pumpkins worth of fresh puree and have now moved on to canned pumpkin. What can I say? I love pumpkin!

I had this pumpkin soup at my friend Monica's a few weeks back and I fell in love! It is such a delicious and hearty soup. Perfect for a cold fall/winter day! The recipe has you puree the bacon with the soup, but you could also just crumble it on top or mix it in. Also, when I had it at Monica's I topped it with the cheddar and parmesan as the recipe suggests. When I made it, I had mozzarella grated already, so I just used that and it was just as good.

I found the recipe for these dinner rolls and thought they would be a perfect partner for the soup. At first I worried that it might be too much pumpkin for one meal, but as soon as I tasted the rolls, I knew it was a good choice. The pumpkin flavor was definately present, but it was very subtle. These rolls were DELICIOUS! I used them for sandwich rolls the next day for lunch, too!

If you aren't sick of pumpkin yet, give these recipes a try. They really are fantastic!

Pumpkin Soup

8 slices bacon, cut into pieces

3 TBSP olive oil
1 onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

7 cups water

2 TBSP chicken bouillon granules

4 cups (32 oz) pumpkin

1 TBSP sugar

1 tsp thyme

1 cup milk

1/8 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp curry powder

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Grated cheddar and parmesan, for topping

In a large soup pot, saute bacon, onion, carrots, and celery in oil for 15 minutes. Stir in water, bouillon, pumpkin, sugar, and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender.

Blend with hand blender or transfer in batches to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Mix in milk, nutmeg, and curry powder. Heat through and season with salt and pepper.

Pour into bowls and top with cheese.

Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Recipe from EChronicles

1 cup canned pumpkin

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 package active dry yeast

2 Tbsp brown sugar

3/4 cup warm skim milk

5 cups bread or all-purpose white flour, divided

1/4 cup stick butter, softened

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cider vinegar

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 large egg

Combine the pumpkin and vanilla extract; set aside.

Dissolve yeast and sugar in milk in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes until bubbly. Add 2 cups flour, pumpkin mixture, butter, salt, vinegar, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, and egg to yeast mixture; beat at medium speed of a mixer until smooth. Stir in 2 cups flour to form a sticky dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); adding in enough of the remaining flour to prevent dough from sticking to hands.

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover dough, and let rise in a warm place (85°), 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Coat 24 muffin cups with cooking spray. Punch dough down, and divide in half. Working with 1 portion at a time (cover remaining dough to keep from drying), divide each portion into 12 equal pieces; shape each piece into a ball. Place 1 ball in each muffin cup. Cover and let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat oven to 350°

Uncover dough. Brush melted butter over rolls. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes to serve immediately. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

To freeze rolls, bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, cool on wire racks, and place in a large zip-top freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. To bake, remove desired number of rolls from bag; let thaw at room temperature while oven preheats to 350°. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.