In honor of the season, I’m planning to cook with pumpkin the rest of the week. This is problematic because, as a child, Sammy once ate a whole pumpkin pie and apparently was spectacularly ill. He refuses to touch anything made with pumpkin, which I understand in principal, but I would like to believe that maybe 55 years later he could revisit the issue. Perhaps there have been some positive changes in the taste of pumpkin in the course of a half a century. That being said, I’m actually contemplating the sin of omission. A little pumpkin sneaked into soup never hurt anyone. Right?
I’m making this great pumpkin and black bean soup, working with a recipe I saved in the early 90’s from Gourmet magazine. Originally I cut it out thinking that Sammy would come around and the soup would become a Halloween classic in our house.
It’s a great soup; I made it for a fall porch lunch and just sort of forgot about the recipe over the years. On principal I tend to avoid squash and pumpkin soups because they are frequently quite sweet and hunkered down with an excess of curry to counteract the sweetness. This has no curry, isn’t a bit sweet and has a ta da finish of sherry. I added a little chipotle and oregano. You could probably just use a few shakes of Tabasco. The original recipe threw in diced ham at the end. I love to have a few meatless dishes up my sleeve plus the ham just didn’t seem to add anything to the already bold flavors of this soup.
See if you don’t just love this recipe!
I’m ready to take on anyone’s favorite pumpkin recipe so send them my way.
Here’s a little P.S. since I’m posting this the morning after: I have to give Sammy credit, he loved it! It felt too mean to serve the soup without telling him there was a little pumpkin in it. He may not be ready to take on a pumpkin pie anytime soon, but I consider this a major break through!
Ingredients
3 cans black beans, drained
1 can dice tomatoes, undrained
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp canned chipotle, chopped (hint: I open a can and dump it in a jar to keep in the fridge.)
½ stick butter
4 c beef broth (hint: You can use bouillon cubes in water.)
1 can pumpkin puree
1/2 c Sherry
Sour cream and pumpkin seeds were what I used as a garnish
Directions
Over medium heat, in a large pot or Dutch oven, melt butter and add onion, garlic, cumin, salt, chipotle, and oregano.
Sauté until onion is soft, about 2 minutes.
Coarsely puree tomatoes and black beans in a food processor and add to pot along with beef broth.
Stir in pumpkin and sherry.
Lower heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.
Serve with garnish and enjoy!
