Pumpkin Soup

I was going to make soup in a pumpkin yesterday - until I realized that all of our big pumpkins are doing Halloween decoration duty on the porch right now. I do have lots of smaller pumpkins, so I ended up trying out a recipe for pumpkin soup. Pumpkin/Acorn Squash Soup.

I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com...then I found another one there....then I read the reviews....then I ended up sort of combining the two recipes and making some changes of my own. So here goes:

Pumpkin Soup

1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage, browned and drained
6 cups chicken stock (I used Better than Bouillon)
4 cups pumpkin puree (I used a mix of pumpkin and acorn squash)
1/2 cup chopped onion (I sauteed these first, to soften them)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (I used evaporated milk)
2-4 Tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste.

1. Heat stock, pumpkin, sauteed onions, thyme and garlic in a big pot. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered.

2. Puree the soup in small batches (1 cup at a time!!!) using the blender.

3. Return to pan and add cooked sausage. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for another 30 minutes. Stir in cream.

Pretty simple, really. You could use canned pumpkin puree and it would be even easier. I think I will play around with the spices some next time I make it and try a spicier sausage. It came out a tad sweeter than I expected and tasted more like chicken soup than pumpkin - but that was okay with us. A great way to sneak vegetables onto the table.