Curried Pumpkin Soup

"That sounds gross..." was my initial reaction to Matt's request that I try a recipe for pumpkin soup.  You see, Matt loves all things pumpkin.  Starting on the first not-hot day in late summer, Matt starts hinting for pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pancakes...you get the idea.  He had heard that there were pumpkin soup recipes out there but I was skeptical.  I only had eaten pumpkin in sweet applications....savory pumpkin soup sounded odd to me.  But such is Matt's love for pumpkin, he kept on.  I am so glad he did.  This has become a family favorite, even the kids love it.   My son, Brandon, who doesn't like pumpkin pie, eats this willingly.

I found a recipe for Curried Pumpkin Soup and decided to give it a whirl.  With a few tweaks of my own, I came up with this soup!  Everyone I have shared it with raves about it and it is very easily made vegetarian.

Curried Pumpkin Soup:
Printable Version
1/2 lb. of bacon, chopped  (2 T. butter for vegetarian version)
large yellow onion, chopped
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1/4 t. salt
2 T. flour
1 T. curry powder
3 c. chicken stock (vegetable stock for vegetarians)
12-oz. can evaporated milk
15-oz. can pumpkin puree
1/4 t. fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 t. cayenne  (opt.)
salt and pepper to taste


(Keep in mind, I doubled this recipe when I was taking pictures to blog.) In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crispy. (If you are going vegetarian, skip this and just melt the butter then add onions and mushrooms.)

Remove bacon from pot with slotted spoon and set bacon aside.  Add onions and mushrooms to the bacon drippings with 1/4 t. salt and cook until mushrooms have given up their moisture.

Add flour and curry powder; stir to combine and cook for 2 minutes.                                   

Using a wire whisk, add chicken stock (or vegetable stock) into the curry mixture.

 Bring to a boil over medium high heat and cook until thickened.  Add evaporated milk, pumpkin, nutmeg, optional cayenne, salt and pepper.  Heat through.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with reserved bacon. 

This bowl actually has the cayenne sprinkled on as a garnish since Matt and I like it a bit spicy and the kids don't like the spice.   I like to serve this soup with a green leafy salad (like spinach) and nice, crusty Italian bread.