This is a recipe I was taught many years ago back at home on the rez, Ive adapted it to use a variety of cheeses. Its great with fresh bread on a cold evening by an open fire or when you have friend around to share. Be warned its a rich soup though, Enjoy!


Take a whole Pumpkin or Squash, if small you can make individual one's and carefully cut off the top leaving as much of the sides of the pumpkin or squash as you can. Keep the lid as you will need to put this back on when you cook the soup.

Scoop out the seeds  and make sure that you don't pierce the now hollow pumpkin  or squash as this is your bowl that your going to cook the soup in. Make sure you have roasting tins or dishes to stand the pumpkin / squashes in just in case they leak.

Take a block of cheese or your choice Gruyere, Cheddar or Blue cheese work well and grate the cheese.

Depending on how many people your feeding and how many squashes or pumpkins your using you will need to adjust the liquid amounts and  possibly add extra cheese etc. I will do this for  a standard medium pumpkin.

1 pint of chicken stock, I usually make this a bit stronger than usual and add 2 stock cubes but that's down to personal taste.
1 large carton of double or heavy cream
1 pint of milk
Fresh sage leaves a good large handful slightly bruised and quickly fried
4 to 6 cloves of garlic sliced thinly
1 medium onion finely chopped
a good pinch of mixed herbs
A large handful of fresh chopped cilantro ( coriander in the UK)
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

I sweat down both the onion and garlic then add the slightly bruised sage leaves to the frying pan and remove from heat when the sage starts to crisp.

Retain some of the crisp sage leaves to add at end.

Put the hollowed out pumpkin / squash into their baking trays and in a moderate oven for about 20 mins to start to roast the flesh temp approx 180 to 200. Put the Pumpkin / squash lid on a separate baking tray at the bottom of the oven to start to cook. ( this needs to still be firm enough for you to place in top of pumpkin / squash.)

Into  a large saucepan goes the stock , cream and milk along with the garlic ,onion, sage , herbs  half the cilantro / coriander and seasoning and start to cook this through, don't boil but adjust your seasoning to taste.

Remove pumpkins / squashes from oven.

Pour the mixture carefully into the pumpkin / squashes. add the grated cheese and and stir mixture carefully inside the pumpkin. You want to stop pouring in the mixture when your about 1 1/2 inches below the top of the pumpkin a bit less if its a smaller squash. Put on the top part of the pumpkin / squash to form a lid.

Put the whole lot back in the oven for another 20 min then carefully test the inside wall  at the top of the pumpkin to see if it is soft. Keep repeating  this every 10 mins until it is, the side will start to sag a little at the top.

When cooked carefully remove the pumpkin / squash from the oven and put on the table ( don't try to remove from the baking tray as it may very well collapse).

Add in remains herbs and any extra grated cheese you wish . Very carefully with a fork tease away some of the squash or pumpkin flesh into the soup, also do this to the underside of the lid and add to the soup mix, stir together and serve in bowls with some of the crisped sage leaves on top.

It sounds really fussy but its simple to make and well worth the effort taste wise. Enjoy.