I’m lucky to live right next to Amador county wine region. This year we took advantage of that by going wine tasting the weekend after Thanksgiving. You pretty much can’t go wrong in Amador, but this time, it was the soup, that was most memorable. One winery was serving homemade Creamy Pumpkin and Sausage Soup by the cup. The aroma of pumpkin and spice on that dreary day was amazing and tasted even better with the wine I was trying out.
Exotic Combinations = Amazing Taste
Despite being slightly intimidated by the exotic combinations of flavors (coconut milk, cinnamon, bay leaf), making the soup was really simple. Start with browning about 2 pounds of Italian sausage. I generally like spicy food, but for this recipe, I recommend the milder or sweet variety of sausage.
Special Ingredients
- Canned coconut milk
- Canned pumpkin
- Italian sausage
- Cinnamon
- Bay leaf
In a Dutch oven, pour a little olive oil and brown the meat. Then when almost cooked, add the chopped onion. Cook until the meat is completely browned and the onion is translucent.
When meat is brown add the pumpkin, chicken stock, cinnamon, bay leaf and bring to just boiling. Then, reduce heat a bit and cook for 30 minutes.
Then add coconut milk…the magic ingredient that makes this dish incredibly smooth and silky and creamy.
The coconut is creamy and rich, and the cinnamon really offsets the pumpkin flavor. To pull everything together, you don’t simply top this dish with croutons or oyster crackers (although you can). Topping this dish off with walnuts and chopped pears sends makes this a really special soup.
Creamy, silky, nutty, spicy, with the flavors of pumpkin and the heartiness of the sausage, Creamy Pumpkin and Sausage Soup captures the flavors of fall.
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Creamy Pumpkin and Sausage Soup
Equipment
- 6-quart Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 pound Italian sausage, mild
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- (2) 15 ounce cans pumpkin
- 32 ounces chicken stock
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup chopped pears optional
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts optional
Instructions
- Remove casings from the sausage and break up into little pieces.
- In a Dutch oven, saute sausage over medium heat for 3 minutes.
- Add onion and continue to saute, stirring occasionally until sausage is just cooked through and onion becomes clear, about 10-15 minutes. Add garlic for last 5 minutes of cooking time.
- Carefully remove all but 1 tablespoon of oil from the pan. Add pumpkin and stock to pan. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in cinnamon and bay leaves. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add coconut milk and stir to combine. Simmer an additional 5 minutes. At this point you can serve or transfer to a slow cooker to keep warm until ready to serve. If the soup reduces too much, add more chicken stock to thin the broth.
- To serve, ladle into soup bowls.
- Garnish with chopped pears and walnuts.
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