Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Brr...it's cold outside. 

Nothing warms the body and soul like a good bowl of soup.  This soup turns up heat even more with a perfect blend of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper.   

I don't know what the weather is like by you, but we were hit with a major snow and ice storm yesterday.  This soup was a perfect way to end the day snuggled up in a warm house while the world outside was a blustery blizzard.  

Spiced Pumpkin Soup 

8-10 servings

Ingredients

1/3 cup olive oil

2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced and chopped

4 scallions, chopped

1 tablespoon Marsala wine

3 medium sized red potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 (15 ounce) can pure pumpkin

1 quart (4 cups) chicken broth or stock

1/2 cup almond milk (or regular milk or cream) 

Directions

Heat a large stockpot on medium-high heat, and add olive oil.  Add the onions and scallions and stir.  Turn heat down to medium.  Saute for about 10 minutes, until the onions start to caramelize.  Add Marsala wine and potatoes and stir. Saute about 2 minutes. Add the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt, cayenne pepper, and pumpkin and mix well. Add the chicken stock and stir until all of the ingredients have blended together well.  Bring to a boil then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 25 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender and soup starts to thicken slightly.  Remove from heat and blend soup with an immersion blender or in a blender (half the batch at a time).  Return soup to the burner and add milk slowly.  Stir well and heat through.  Serve soup immediately, garnish with scallions.  If desired, cool soup in fridge and freeze half the batch to save for another cold winter day... 

Stay warm folks!