El Vergel de la Vega

Oh how I love Thursdays. I show up to work early in the morning, teach a class or two, then at break time, I find a crate of fresh organic produce waiting for me in the main office downstairs.

This week it's carrots, spinach, apples, cherimoyas, a giant pumpkin, oranges and mandarins, leeks, white kidney beans, sun-dried red peppers, and a head of cabbage. So fresh you can still smell the dirt on them and occasionally find a few insects crawling between the leaves.












If you live in Granada, I definitely recommend ordering your groceries from this local farm, called Vergel de la Vega. Delivery is free if it's not a private address. And, when you order a caja cerrada (meaning you won't get to choose the products), it's cheaper than going to Mercadona, the largest supermarket chain in Spain. For the quality of the fruit and vegetables you get, paying 10-20 cents more per kilo is not asking too much.

I'm trying to think of ways to use up the entire 2.5-kilo pumpkin they sent me. It's a monster! Really! The name of this pumpkin is calabaza gigante. I used about one third of it in a pumpkin and carrot soup. But what do I do with the rest?? Delicious ideas? If you want to come over and take some pumpkin off my hands, here's the simple recipe for that creamy soup:


INGREDIENTS//

+ a lot of pumpkin
+ 3-4 carrots
+ a bit of milk or cream
+ 2-3 teaspoons of sugar


RECIPE//

Cut the pumpkin and carrots in medium sized pieces and boil them in a pot until you can poke a fork through them. The softer they are, the easier it is to turn them into puree. Be warned that if overboiled, the pumpkin will disintegrate. Drain the pot, cut off the pumpkin skin, put that orange mess back in, then add about a cup of water. The pumpkin retained a lot of water from when we were boiling it, so we don't have to add that much liquid.

Use a hand blender or food processor to mix everything up until it becomes a thick and creamy texture. Turn on the stove and let it stew for 20 minutes on a low fire. Add a few spoonfuls of sugar, but don't forget that the pumpkin is already pretty sweet. The best idea is to taste as you go. When it's almost ready, stir in a bit of milk until the color evens out. Mmmm, a nice warm soup for these dreadfully long winter months.







On a different note: I realized, though too late, that my photos from the last post were edited badly. I have a terrible, nonadjustable computer screen. I apologize if they hurt your eyes or reminded you of an overly saturated cookbook from the 80s.