Pumpkin Soup

Fall is the beginning of hot soup weather here in Virginia and with our Fall comes pumpkins which can be turned into a perfect fully wonderful soup. Add a slice of homemade bread and you have a great lunch or light dinner to warm you up on a cold day.

You can use whole pumpkins which you can slice, dice, and puree, or as in this recipe use canned pumpkin. For a vegetarian version, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

Pumpkin Soup

1 Onion, diced

1 Garlic clove, chopped

1/4 cup butter

2 teaspoon Brown Sugar

1 14-1/2 ounce can Chicken Broth

1 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Pepper

1/2 cup water

1/8 teaspoon ground Cinnamon

1 15 ounce can Pumpkin

1-1/2 cups half-and-half milk

Garnish: Chopped green onion or chives, chopped peanuts, chopped toasted pumpkin seeds, toasted croutons

In a large soup pot, over medium, cook the onion and garlic in the butter until soft and fragrant. Add brown sugar and cook until melted into the butter/onion mixture.

Add chicken broth, salt, pepper and water and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add pumpkin and stir until well combined.

Stir in evaporated milk and cinnamon and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or until soup is hot.

Serve in warm bowls and garnish as desired.