Pumpkin Soup with Sausage

My kids loved Green Mama Amanda's Pumpkin Pancakes so much that I thought I'd try adding pumpkin into another meal: dinner!

I was totally skeptical at first. I don't know why. I guess I've just never had pumpkin in a savory dish before. But the end result was not only a good for you soup - with all the nutritional ingredients that help you stay healthy and strong as Mother Earth puts on the chill - it was also very delicious!

And the kids loved it! Very important ;)

As always with my recipes, this is cooking...NOT baking. Therefore both the ingredients and the amounts can vary. That's why I love cooking...it's all about plus-n-minus ;)

What you need...in the order you need them

• olive oil - enough to cover the bottom of your soup pot, and then some
• 2 Tbsp butter
  
• 1 onion chopped (your choice - yellow, white, red)
• pinch of salt
• 3 carrots chopped
  
• 3 celery stalks chopped
• 5 garlic cloves (more if you like, less if you want)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  
• 6 cups water (or chicken stock if you have it)
  
• 10 baby red potatoes quartered (I bet sweet potato would be good too!)
• 4 sweet Italian sausage links sliced or crumbled
  
• black pepper to taste
  
• crushed red pepper flakes to taste
  
• 2 tsp cumin
  
• 1 tsp thyme
  
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp black strap molasses (very good for you, adds depth of color and flavor)
  
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup (high in iron & calcium, my super most secret ingredient ever!)
  
• pinch of salt to taste
  
• yes, it's a lot...it's soup!!
  

What to do...

1. Saute onion, carrots, celery in olive oil and butter for 5 minutes
   
2. add pumpkin puree and allow to mix-n-mingle for 5 minutes
   
3. add water, potatoes, sausage...and everything else into the pot
4. bring to a high boil for 20 minutes
5. lower to a low boil for 30 minutes
6. serve with Parmesan cheese, buttered bread, anything you like ;)

As always, have the kids help out in the kitchen and out back dumping the kitchen scraps into the compost.

Hope you have some chilly weather your way to try out this wonderful fall soup...enjoy!

:)