Pumpkin Wild Rice Soup

January 2022. I turned 34 in July but the year starts here and I'm still 34 for another six months. The new year felt more like a new year than last year's did—the pandemic had shifted enough that the calendar meant something again.

The catering work with Art had continued through the fall and into the early winter. We'd done eight events by this point and I'd developed a real working relationship with him and with his regular crew. He'd started consulting me specifically on the traditional preparations—he trusted his own skill with large-format cooking but wanted someone who'd been trained in the specific dishes by someone who'd learned them authentically. I was that person for him in a way I hadn't thought of myself before. It was strange and clarifying at once.

He asked me in January if I'd consider being listed as a cultural consultant on their materials. Not cooking staff—specifically the cultural piece. I said I needed to think about it. He said take his time. I spent a week thinking about whether I was qualified to present myself that way and concluded that qualifying yourself by someone else's standard misses the point. Danny didn't have credentials. He had knowledge and practice and continuity of tradition. So did I. The title still felt a little large but I said yes.

Made a pot of kanuchi this week—the hickory nut soup that's probably the most labor-intensive traditional preparation I know. You pound the hulled hickory nuts in a wooden mortar—this takes a long time and both shoulders—and then simmer the resulting paste until the oil rises and the broth is rich and slightly bitter and complex in a way nothing else is. Kai watched me pound for twenty minutes and said it looked like work. I said it is work. He said he wanted to try. He lasted about three minutes and said okay he understood now.

Kanuchi isn’t a recipe I can put in a blog post — the real version lives in the muscles of your arms and the specific weight of a wooden mortar, and I’m not sure words do it justice. But after a week of that work, and Kai’s three-minute attempt that made us both laugh, I found myself drawn to this pumpkin wild rice soup as something I could share — a bowl that carries some of the same spirit: earthy, slow, and made with ingredients that have roots in this land long before any recipe card existed. It doesn’t replace what kanuchi is, but it sits in the same neighborhood of intention, and sometimes that’s the right place to land.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked wild rice, rinsed
2 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup whole milk or unsweetened oat milk
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted, for garnish

Instructions

Cook the wild rice. Combine wild rice and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer 35—40 minutes until tender and the grains begin to split. Drain any excess water and set aside.
Saute the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 7—8 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Build the base. Stir in pumpkin puree, thyme, sage, and nutmeg. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring to incorporate and deepen the flavor.
Add the broth and simmer. Pour in vegetable broth and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld.
Finish with milk and rice. Stir in milk and cooked wild rice. Simmer an additional 5 minutes over low heat. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and garnish with toasted pepitas and an extra pinch of fresh thyme if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Pumpkin Wild Rice Soup — The Work Behind the Bowl