Fall Crab Recipe: Crab & Pumpkin Soup

It’s that time of year again. The trees are turning their colorful autumnal shades and we’re bundling up in scarves and coats bracing for the colder temperatures ahead. Nothing warms the body better than homemade soup and this recipe for Crab and Pumpkin Soup will certainly do the trick.

I usually pick up a couple extra baking pumpkins when I’m shopping for my seasonal decorations, for recipe use. Pumpkins have an incredible shelf life and keep for a few weeks, so when I’m ready to get cooking they’re here. Cameron’s fresh lump crab meat is ideal for this recipe, adding wonderful freshness with rich flaky pieces of crab.

We start by roasting the pumpkins that have been seasoned with baking spices. Once the pumpkin is tender, it’s scooped from the rind and simmered with garlic, chopped onion, broth and heavy cream creating a lovely sweet and savory flavor balance. The soup is pureed smooth before being topped with buttery lump crab meat and chopped chives.

You can also roast the pumpkin seeds to add as a little crunchy pumpkin crab soup topper. I recommend seasoning the seeds with a little smoked paprika and salt. This will add a slight smoky spice flavor to the crab and pumpkin soup that’s just lovely. *A little chef secret is that I use reserved breakfast bacon grease to roast my pumpkin seeds- the result are crispy seeds that are extremely flavorful.

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Crab & Pumpkin Soup

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 medium baking pumpkin quartered and seeds removed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter plus 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons garlic peeled and minced
• 1/4 cup yellow onion peeled and minced
• 4 cups vegetable or seafood broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup Cameron’s Lump Maryland Crab Meat
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh chives chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Roasting the Pumpkin:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place quartered pumpkin pieces, flesh side up, on a baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle pumpkin with salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger and use your hands to rub in the seasoning.
2. Cover pan with foil and roast for 30 minutes or until pumpkin is fork tender. Using a spoon carefully scrape away the pumpkin from the rind and set aside.

Soup:

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large stock pot over medium heat and sauté garlic and onion for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant and tender.
2. Add roasted pumpkin, broth and heavy cream to the pot. Bring to a low simmer, reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 20-25 minutes.
3. Carefully spoon soup into a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth, return to the pot and keep warm until ready to serve.
4. Warm crab meat with reserved 2 tablespoons of melted butter either in the microwave or stove top. Microwave on high, covered for 2 minutes or sauté in a pan over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes.
5. Ladle soup into bowls and top evenly with buttered crab. Garnish with chopped chives before serving.

Buy Maryland Blue Crab Online

You can buy our Lump Maryland Crab Meat (as well as many other delicious seafood products) from our online store. All of Cameron’s Maryland Crab Meat comes straight from the Chesapeake Bay to your door with guaranteed freshness. The best crab meat in the world comes from Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs!

Show us your soup! Whether you make this delicious recipe or have one of your own that you would like to share-we’d love to hear from you. Post your own Cameron’s Seafood soup images on Instagram and tag us @cameronsseafoodonline. We’re also on Facebook and Twitter, we look forward seeing your creations.

By: Patterson Watkins

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