Zandalari Pumpkin Peanut Soup
The trolls of Azeroth tend to live in warmer climates, but they are happy to share this unusual autumn recipe for Pumpkin Peanut Soup. Feel the ocean breeze in your hair, the jungle humidity pressing in from thickly forested mountains, and listen to the sounds of drums and sea-bird calls blended with the sounds of a bustling port city. That’s right, we are visiting the Zandalari Trolls on the tropical southern coast of Zuldazar! The trolls bring in plenty of vegetables from the large trading ships that stop at the busy port and combine them in creative and delicious ways. You can see squashes and vegetables in baskets all along the boardwalk and up the steps of the ancient pyramid city. Sure, the innkeepers might be making potions, but I think it’s more likely they are making soup in those huge cauldrons.
Gathering the ingredients is the first quest you must undertake. The cooking part is pretty quick so it is best to have everything ready to go at the beginning. You can choose to go completely from scratch with roasting your own fresh red bell peppers and baking a pumpkin, or just pick up a jar of pre-roasted peppers and a can of puree. I like to roast a bunch of pumpkins in the fall and freeze the puree in 1-cup measurements so it’s easy to pull out for recipes all year, but the first batch of pumpkin always goes into this soup – it is one of my long-time favorites. Pumpkin peanut soup is easy to make dairy-free or vegan, too!
Zandalari Pumpkin Peanut Soup
Equipment
- 4-6 quart soup pot
- Immersion blender or regular blender
Ingredients
- 2 tsp butter or oil
- 1 medium white onion chopped (1 1/2 cups)
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and smashed
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ to 1 tsp chili pepper flakes
- 15-16 oz pumpkin puree 1 can or homemade
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth or veggie broth
- 3 roasted red peppers 7oz, peeled and chopped (reserve 1 Tbsp for garnish)
- ¼ cup smooth peanut butter
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- ½ tsp table salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper freshly ground
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice fresh if available
- ¼ cup sour cream for serving (optional)
- 2 Tbsp chopped unsalted roasted peanuts for serving (optional)
- 2 Tbsp chopped scallion greens for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Have all ingredients ready and measured. Have red peppers roasted, cooled, remove the skins, and chop. Make pumpkin puree (or use canned). Juice a lemon (or use pre-bottled).
- Heat butter or oil in a 4-quart (or larger) soup pot over medium-high.
- Add onion and cook, stirring, until golden, 8-10 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes.
- Add turmeric, paprika, and chili flakes; stir.
- Add pumpkin puree, broth, peppers, and peanut butter; whisk to incorporate and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, simmer for 5 minutes, then stir in sugar, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Remove from heat.
- Using an immersion blender, carefully puree until smooth. Alternately, let soup cool down a bit before pureeing in small batches in a regular blender.
- Divide among 4 bowls and garnish with sour cream, peanuts, reserved chopped roasted red peppers, and scallion greens.
