Pumpkin Soup

You know I couldn't go a day or two without posting another pumpkin recipe, right? Last week was Arizona Restaurant Week, which I tend to frequent every year. This year I dined at one my local favorites, St. Francis. Their menu changes seaonally and always have the freshest local ingredients incorporated into their meals. To start I had the most amazing pumpkin soup, topped with creme fraiche and pomegranates. I literally would have had this for my 3-course meal if offered to me. But since it was not I decided to try and re-create it myself at home.

I recently was offered a new job, and as a congratulatory gift to myself I purchased a red Cuisinart immersion blender, to match all of my red appliances in my kitchen! This will be my first time blending soup without pouring it into blender and making a huge mess, while usually losing about 1/4 of the soup in the process!

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 tbsp. flour
• 1 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 1 tsp. hot sauce
• 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 15-oz. canned pumpkin
• 1 cup greek yogurt (or heavy cream if you prefer)
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large soup stock pot. Add the butter and melt it with the oil. Add celery and onion, then season with salt and pepper. Cook for 6-7 minutes while veggies soften.

Add the flour, poultry seasoning, and hot sauce. Cook for 1 minute.

Slowly whisk the broth into the pot and bring the mixture to a slight bubble. Then whisk the pumpkin in small batches. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the greek yogurt (or heavy cream) and nutmeg. Reduce heat to low and let thicken for another 5 minutes.

Using and immersion blender, blend soup until creamy and smooth. Serves 4.