Free recipes from rubyglen.com Elegant Cream of Pumpkin Soup  Served in a Pumpkin Shell    By Martha Matthews "Served it in a pumpkin shell and there you'll keep it very well." The presentation of this savory soup is spectacular! Ingredients:  1 large fresh pumpkin (about 12 inches in diameter) for serving the soup in.  2 1/2 cups fresh, cooked pumpkin or canned pumpkin  3 cups chicken broth  1 cup heavy cream  1/2 cup dry sherry (optional)  4 tbsp. butter  1 small onion, chopped  3/4 cup diced celery  1 sprig of fresh thyme  4 cloves garlic, minced  1/4 tsp of salt Toasted pumpkin seeds for a garnish  Fresh cracked pepper  Directions:  Cut the top (one third) of your pumpkin to create a lid for your pumpkin serving bowl. Scoop out the seeds and strings, cleaning the inside well of any debris.. Clean the seeds and place them on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle the seeds with a little salt. Roast in a 200°F oven until lightly golden brown. Set them aside to be used as a garnish.  In a large soup pot, melt 2 tbsp of butter over a medium heat. Sauté the onion, celery and garlic, about 10 minutes. Add the pumpkin, sherry and chicken broth. Blend in well with a whisk. Add the thyme sprig. Simmer for an additional 20 minutes. Remove thyme sprig. Remove the mixture from the heat and puree in a blender. Be careful to puree small amounts of the hot mixture with the blender top on to avoid having the mixture burst out of the blender. Return the mixture to the pot. Melt the remaining 2 tbsp of butter in a separate sauce pan. Whisk in 2 tbsp of flour. Whisk in the cream. Blend well. Cook for one minute. Whisk the flour, butter and cream mixture into pumpkin puree. Simmer for 5 minutes more.  Heat the pumpkin shell in a 200ºF oven for 10 to 15 minutes before adding soup to keep the soup warm for a longer period of time.  Pour soup into your hollowed-out pumpkin serving bowl. Serve the toasted pumpkin seeds on the side for garnish and plenty of fresh cracker pepper.     Copyright 2002.  Martha Matthews