Halloween-Themed Recipes from LPG

Jason Swanson, LPG staff member and fabulous cook, in his kitchen in San FranciscFor all you San Francisco renters who enjoy a nice holiday-themed recipe, we thought we would blog a few recipes from Jason, who in addition to being the Lightner Property Group office coordinator is also a fabulous chef.

The two recipes that Jason has provided, Pumpkin Soup and Seasoned Pumpkin Seeds, can be created using 1 pumpkin and a few other basic ingredients.

Pumpkin Soup

What you will need:

• 1 large pumpkin
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• ¼ cup honey
• 1/8 cup brown sugar
• salt and pepper
• 1 white onion
• 2 low sodium 18 oz. chicken broth

Directions:

• Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Step 2: Cut out the top of the pumpkin, as you would if you were carving it and gut the pumpkin. Place the pumpkin seeds to the side. Rinse to get rid of all the gunk, seeds should be completely cleaned.
• Step 3: Peel the pumpkin rind using a knife or vegetable peeler. Jason always uses a knife.
• Step 4: Cut the pumpkin into cubes. Place to the side.
• Step 5: In a large mixing bowl, mix together ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), ¼ cup honey, 1/8 cup brown sugar and salt and pepper.
• Step 6: Toss cubed pumpkin in mixture in the large mixing bowl.
• Step 7: After tossing cubed pumpkins in mixture, place the cubes on a large baking sheet. Be sure to use a spray of Pam before placing the pumpkin cubes on the baking sheet to avoid “stickage.” Place baking sheet in preheated oven.
• Step 8: Bake pumpkin until cubes are “fork-soft” If you have chosen as Jason puts it, “a good, hard pumpkin,” it will take approximately 45 minutes for pumpkin cubes to get “fork-soft.”
• Step 9: Dice the white onion. In a large soup pot, sauté the diced onions until they are translucent. Fill the pot halfway with chicken broth, this will take approximately 2 18 oz. chicken broth. Jason recommends using low sodium chicken broth to reduce the amount of sodium intake. Bring mixture to a boil.
• Step 10: Once pumpkin is “fork soft” add to the chicken broth and onion mixture in the large soup pot. Cook until the pumpkin is breaking apart, which should take about 15 minutes.
• Step 11: Use an immersion blender until you get the desired consistency for your soup. If you do not have an immersion blender, you can alternately transfer the soup mixture to a blender and blend. Just keep in mind that you should not completely cover the blender to avoid it exploding.

Seasoned Pumpkin Seeds

What you will need:

• Cleaned pumpkin seeds
• EVOO
• Salt and Pepper (or a variety of other spices, see the recipe for options)

Recipe:

• Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
• Step 2: Mix all EVOO and salt and pepper together. Alternatively, if you want sweet pumpkin seeds you can mix brown sugar and cinnamon with EVOO. If you want spicier pumpkin seeds, try mixing spicy cayenne pepper and garlic salt with EVOO.
• Step 3: Spray a large baking pan with PAM and spread cleaned pumpkin seeds. Place in preheated oven . Cook until seeds are browned.
• Step 4: Take out seeds after they are browned and immediately transfer to spice and EVOO mixture. Toss in large bowl. Jason recommends doing this step last because the seeds tend to hold onto the spice mixture better when they are hot.
• Step 5: Serve and enjoy!