Saturday Night: Chunky Pumpkin Soup for Pre-Partiers

It's Saturday.  It's Saturday.  Are you getting this loud and clear?  SATURDAY.
The long-awaited herald of the real, live weekend.  We all know Friday is for sissies.  Saturday is when the Rockstars rule the world, the glow of unforeseen adventure in their glittering, glassy eyes;  the cold winds of a Swiss January deter only the faintest of heart, and those of us who know what it means to boogie take to the streets in pursuit of swaying bliss.

But not without some soup first.

Tonight is not just any Saturday either, but specifically the Saturday of the Couchsurfing monthly meeting in Basel, and a huge party in nearby Freiburg, Germany, where many of us are going afterwards.  Couchsurfing has come to life for me again in the last few months:  The joy of meeting new people and having those laughter-inducing spontaneous conversations moments afterwards.  So it is with eager anticipation that I eat this soup, bundle up against the snowy night, and get ready to find what Basel's Saturday has to give.

As with all pre-party meals, this one is simple and fast.  I want you to forget mincing, dicing, and julienning, and pick up that butcher knife like a hatchet.  Get ready to CHOP.  That's right, good ol' coarse, gritty, CHOPPING.  I want those veggies chunked, and I want Martha Stewart gasping at the wayside as you whip this soup out so heartily you could make a woodchuck shiver.

Chunky Pumpkin Soup
Consider putting on some Cheb Khaled as you whip this baby up, just to get in the mood.



Ingredients
-1 little round orange pumpkin (squash?  they call them all pumpkins here...any small round orange pumpkin-like winter vegetable oughtta do it)
-2 big potatoes, chopped
-2 big carrots, chopped
-1 big leek, chopped

-1 tbsp fresh chopped ginger (+)
-1 tbsp dried rosemary
-1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
-5 cloves garlic, chopped
-Fresh ground pepper to taste
-1 tsp tamari (opt.)

Lotsa water and as much bouillon as you deem fitting.  (could be none)

Directions
Heat the ghee in a large pot and add the mustard seeds.  Cook, stirring, until they start to pop, and then add the ginger and leeks.  Stir to coat with ghee and then add the carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, rosemary, water to cover, and bouillon.

Cover and cook until the potatoes are tender.  Add the garlic, then puree just a little bit with an immersion mixer, and check the taste.  Add tamari, pepper, and salt to taste.