Jamaican Pumpkin Soup

Jamaican pumpkin soup is the what chicken noodle soup is to America. Generally this is a Saturday dish, because Sunday is the "Big" meal cooking to start the week. I found out that Jamaican grown pumpkin is an entirely different thing then American pumpkin. However all pumpkins will give you the same results (just slightly different tastes).

This is the recipe, from The Food of Jamaica in the Periplus World Food Cookbooks series:

Jamaican Pumpkin Soup

1 lb beef roast, cut in big chunks

2 quarts water

1 lb Jamaican pumpkin, sugar pumpkin, squash or butternut squash

1/2 lb yam, chopped*

1 small green pepper, seeded and chopped

2 scallions, chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 sprig fresh thyme

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 small knob ginger, minced or finely grated

Place the meat in a large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, skim off any foam, and simmer uncovered until the meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add all of the remaining ingredients except ginger and continue to cook until the pumpkin and yam are tender, about 45 minutes. Remove the pumpkin and yam from the stock with a slotted spoon, place in a food processor or heat-safe blender, and process until smooth. Return the puree to the stock. Stir and season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls, topping each with a pinch of minced ginger.