Soup Joumou — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A rich, velvety pumpkin soup loaded with beef, pasta, and vegetables — Haiti's Independence Day soup, eaten every January 1st to celebrate freedom.

Ingredients

1 large Caribbean pumpkin or butternut squash (about 1kg), peeled, seeded, and cubed
500g stewing beef, cut into 3cm cubes
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 medium turnip, peeled and cubed
1 small wedge green cabbage (about 200g), roughly chopped
1 leek, cleaned and sliced
200g pasta (rigatoni or penne)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp epis (Haitian green seasoning paste)
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 scotch bonnet pepper, left whole
Juice of 2 limes
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 litres water or beef broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1 Season the beef cubes with salt, pepper, and epis paste, then heat the vegetable oil in a large stockpot over high heat and brown the beef on all sides for six to eight minutes until a deep crust forms.
2 Add the garlic and thyme to the pot, stir for one minute, then pour in the water or broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for forty-five minutes until the beef is nearly tender.
3 While the beef simmers, boil the cubed pumpkin or squash in a separate pot of salted water for fifteen minutes until very soft, then drain and blend to a completely smooth puree using an immersion blender or regular blender.
4 Pour the pumpkin puree into the pot with the simmering beef, stirring well to create a thick, velvety, golden broth base. Add the whole scotch bonnet pepper, being careful not to burst it if you want moderate heat.
5 Add the cubed potatoes, sliced carrots, cubed turnip, chopped cabbage, and sliced leek to the enriched broth, then return to a gentle simmer and cook for twenty minutes until all the root vegetables are nearly tender.
6 Add the pasta to the pot and cook for an additional ten to twelve minutes until the pasta is al dente, stirring occasionally to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot as the soup thickens.
7 Remove the scotch bonnet pepper and thyme sprigs, then stir in the fresh lime juice and taste the soup carefully, adjusting the salt, pepper, and lime balance until the flavour is rich, bright, and perfectly seasoned.
8 Ladle the thick, hearty soup into deep bowls, ensuring each serving has a generous portion of beef, vegetables, and pasta. Serve with crusty bread and celebrate Haiti's independence, traditionally on January 1st and every Saturday.