This year, Mike and I had a pretty epic harvest of various winter squashes—lunga di napoli (scroll down to see crazy pics here), red kuri, spaghetti, cinderella, blue hokkaido, pumpkin pie, delicata, and a few mystery hybrids all graced our little backyard in the city.

Now, as temperatures fall and pumpkin spice fills the air, I find myself experimenting with endless plays on basic pumpkin soup. This particular version, which I'll share with you now, has to be one of my favorites so far. It's rich and creamy, full of medicinal herbs and warming spices, and so easy. Plus vegan and paleo so you can serve it to all your friends.

A few notes on the recipe:

I used some of my giant lunga di napoli for this recipe, but any kind of winter squash would work well—I think butternut or Cinderella pumpkin would be especially good.

I'm pretty loose with my spices, dumping whatever I feel like into the pot like a mad scientist. Take the following as suggestions, but keep tasting and adjusting to your liking. Also, this might look like a lot of garlic, and it is! Hehe. I loooove garlic and add a ton to everything. Feel free to start with less.

If you have the time and want even more flavor in this soup, feel free to roast the squash while you prepare the other ingredients. I needed an easy one-pot meal so mine went raw straight into the soup and was still delicious.

I used Elmhurst cashew milk for this recipe. It's my absolute favorite nutmilk—creamy and the only ingredients are cashews and water. Cashew milk was my choice because I really wanted the flavors to stand out without coconut undertones, but I think coconut milk would also work perfectly well.

The lemon juice really brightens this soup up. If you don't have fresh lemon on hand, you can substitute apple cider vinegar (fire cider would be even better!).

Why this soup works:

• The garlic, onion, sage, and astragalus offer healing, anti-viral benefits

• The winter squash and nettle are full of essential nutrients

• The warming spices bring balance to your constitution throughout the fall and winter seasons

Healing Pumpkin Soup with Cozy Autumn Spices

Serves 6-8 as sides and 4 as mains.

Ingredients:

• 1 small-medium white or yellow onion, chopped

• 1 head garlic, minced and let to rest at least 10 min

• 1 tablespoon oil (avocado, olive, and coconut all work)

• 4 cups peeled and cubed winter squash or pumpkin

• 6-8 sticks astragalus

• 1/2 cup dried nettle

• 6 fresh sage leaves, chopped

• 4 bay leaves

• lemon juice to taste (I used the juice of about 1/2 lemon)

• 4 cups broth or water

• salt and pepper to taste

• Plus...a bunch of spices totaling to about 2 tablespoons:

  • cinnamon

  • turmeric

  • nutmeg

  • mace

  • cardamom

  • powdered ginger

  • star anise

  • allspice

  • cloves

  • red pepper flakes

• I also added a big pinch of finely ground rose petals, lavender, and orris root because I have them and I'm fancy. I'm not sure you could even taste them, but now you know 😛

Directions:

Sauté the onion in oil over medium heat until just turning translucent. Add the squash and garlic and continue to cook for another couple of minutes, stirring regularly.

Next, add all the spices, fresh sage, and salt and pepper. Continue to sauté until the squash/pumpkin begins to soften and most liquid from the vegetables has been absorbed.

Add the broth or water, bay leaves, astragalus, and nettle. Bring to simmer and continue to cook until the squash is completely done (about 20-30m). You can tie the bay and astragalus in twine to make them easier to remove, but I didn’t bother.

Stir in the nutmilk and lemon juice. Continue to cook for about 10m to let the flavors merge. Remove bay leaves and astragalus sticks.

Turn off the heat and puree the soup to your preferred consistency (I like mostly smooth but still a little chunky). You can use a handheld immersion blender, or you can carefully transfer the soup to a blender. If going the blender route, be sure to allow the soup to cool a bit first. You may need to blend in batches.

Serve warm and top with fried sage leaves and a sprinkle of paprika if you're feeling fancy. Tastes even better the next day.