This one is thick and hearty, filled with chunks of pumpkin, shrimp, and cubes of potatoes. The unusual taste comes from the pumpkin base and seafood stock. Putting these two ingredients together is kind of like a mixed marriage between sweet pumpkin and astringent stock, but it works. It gives you a new way to prepare pumpkin instead of pie.

Instructions:

1^1/2 Spanish onions, peeled and diced, divided
4 ribs celery, sliced, divided
2 pounds pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin puree
6 cups lobster or fish stock
1 cup sherry
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 pound small raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups diced, cooked white potatoes
1/2 bunch fresh basil, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
5 dashes Worcestershire sauce
4 dashes Tabasco sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Common crackers or oyster crackers, for serving

Directions:

Set aside 3/4 cup onion, 2 ribs celery, and 1^1/2 cups pumpkin. In a sauté pan heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the remaining onion, celery, and pumpkin. Sauté until soft and golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a stockpot melt the butter. Add the reserved onion and celery, the garlic, and carrots. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add the reserved pumpkin and sauté 5 minutes more. Add the pumpkin puree, stock, sherry, coriander, and celery salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pot, and simmer until the pumpkin is soft and tender, about 35 minutes. Add the brown sugar. Puree the soup in the pot using a hand blender or working in batches with a regular blender until smooth. Return the soup to the heat and add the shrimp. Return to a simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the shrimp are cooked through. Add the cream, potatoes, basil, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, salt, pepper, and the sautéed vegetables. Stir well. Serve with common or oyster crackers.

Makes 12 servings.Any kind of pumpkin—even a misshapen one—will do when you’re carving a jack-o-lantern. For cooking, you get the best results from a sugar pumpkin, which is sweeter and less stringy than a regular field pumpkin. It’s hard to distinguish a sugar pumpkin from its cousins, so ask for help if the pumpkins at the market are not labeled.