When thinking of Halloween, Thanksgiving or just the fall season in general; Pumpkins will typically come up in one form or another. You may see them as decor with the ever so famous Jack-O-Lanterns or made into some of our favorite desserts like the Pumpkin Pie or even in a coffee beverage like the Pumpkin Spice Lattes. The list goes on. However as popular as the pumpkin is, It isn’t that easy to find in Puerto Rico. A lot of the locals actually call the Calabaza the Puerto Rican Pumpkin or the West Indes Pumpkin. The Calabaza which is a large squash does resemble a small pumpkin and thus we decided to swap out the Pumpkin with Calabaza in our Spicy Pumpkin Soup.
Spicy Calabaza and Shrimp Soup topped with Pepitas.
This Spicy version of a Calabaza soup starts off velvety smooth allowing for each individual spice to shine until the roasted heat slowly begins to rise from the back of each bite to give you a complete blended flavor of perfection. Topped with a slow roasted Jumbo Shrimp and Savory Pepitas. This Calabaza Shrimp Soup is the perfect dish to spice up any meal!
Ingredients
Spicy Calabaza Soup with Shrimp
- 2 Lbs. Large Shrimp
- ½ cup Lemon juice
- 1 Calabaza cut in large cubes for roasting (see step 2-4 in instructions)
- 2 Tbsp Ginger peeled and minced. (Easiest when peeled with metal spoon)
- 1 head Garlic peeled.
- 1 Large red onion peeled and quartered
- 2 Large poblanos seeded, deveined and quartered.
- 2 Tbsp. Garlic salt
- 2 Tbsp. Mccormick Pepper
- ½ Tbsp Curry
- 2 tsp. Ground Coriander
- 2 tsp. Cumin
- 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- ¼ cup Coconut oil.
- 1 Quart Chicken stock
- 1 cup Coconut milk.
Pepitas
- Calabaza seeds (Pepitas removed from the calabaza cleaned of debris and set aside.)
- Olive Oil
- Cayenne pepper
- Salt (to taste)
- Pepper (to taste)
Garnish
- Green onions sliced on the diagonal (both green and white parts)
- Sour cream in a piping bag.
Instructions
- Gather your ingredients
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Prepare a Large sheet pan by lining it with a large parchment paper.
- Cut your Calabaza in half and remove Pepitas. Set the pepitas aside once cleaned of debris and dry on paper towels.
- Cut your Calabaza in large cubes and place in a large bowl - leaving skin on (later after roasted and cooled we will remove the skin. (I feel the skin adds flavor during the roasting process.)
- Once you have your Calabaza chopped. Place your Calabaza, poblanos, quartered onion and garlic cloves on the sheet pan.(or two ½ sheet pans)
- Drizzle with enough of your coconut oil to coat the Calabaza, poblanos, onions, and garlic nicely.
- Season with garlic salt and pepper.
- Roast for 20 minutes. Every oven is different so occasionally check to see that your vegetables are golden brown with a slight char.
- It will be done once it is fork tender.
- While we wait, let’s clean our shrimp.
- Once cleaned (Peeled and deveined) Place the clean shrimp in a bowl and drizzle with the coconut oil and lemon.
- Let's season Shrimp with garlic salt and pepper to taste.
- Place the parchment paper on a sheet pan.
- Place the shrimp on the sheet pan and set aside.
- On another sheet pan place dry pepitas and drizzle with olive oil.
- Sprinkle it with cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and set aside.
- Once the vegetables are done roasting and are fork tender, remove the pan from the oven and let cool.
- Place the two sheet pans in the oven to roast the pepitas and shrimp simultaneously while we continue with the soup.
- The shrimp will turn pink as they have built in thermometers. (Once it turns pink remove from oven)
- The pepitas will turn golden brown. (keep an eye on the pepitas, they will roast fast and we don't want them to burn.)
- Now place a large pot on your stove on Medium heat.
- Drizzle some coconut oil in the pan and place your spices. We want to open up the spices and make them fragrant by stirring until you can smell them.
- Your vegetables should be cooled, remove your garlic, poblanos and onions and place in the pot.
- Using a large spoon remove the Calabaza from the skin and place in a pot. (discard skin)
- Add your chicken stock as well as your coconut milk to the pot.
- Using an immersion blender, pulse your Calabaza soup until smooth. (You can also use a blender and then add to your pot)
- Remember taste as you go. Season if needed.
- At this point let the soup simmer for 20 minutes to marry the flavors.
- Now it is time to Lets plate!
- Place your soup in small hollowed out Pumpkins, soup bowls or even bread bowls.
- Place your shrimp into a bowl.
- Using your sour cream. Make your decorative touches with your sour cream. We use a piping bag and start by drawing circles.
- We made cobwebs out of the sour cream circles using a toothpick. But be as creative as you want!
- Place your green onions and pepitas on top and enjoy!
- This is a year round type of dish but can be served for fall or even halloween…
