Hearty Pumpkin Soup

This soup is thick and creamy, and hearty with sausage and nuts. Nuts? Yep, walnuts add a wonderful crunch other soups would envy! Peanut butter helps thicken a bit and adds a depth of flavor. The secret here is to get a tasty sage sausage that you really love. I love sage: it just tastes like fall!

This recipe was featured in the October Diner News--along with lots of other soups and stews and chowders and such. Yum. This is the second time I have made it, and this time I ran a little short of cream. Just as good. So if you are cutting calories, feel free to cut the amount of cream. The texture is still wonderful with the pumpkin and nuts, but I wouldn't eliminate the cream altogether. The creaminess it adds is so much a part of the experience.

 Hearty Pumpkin Soup

1 lb sage flavored pork sausage
1 medium onion, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
1/2 cup walnuts, diced
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 can pumpkin
1 quart chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream

Brown sausage with diced onion and celery. Drain fat. Place meat and vegetables into a Dutch oven. In a small sauce pan, sautee walnuts with butter. When nuts are lightly browned, stir in peanut butter. Add this mixture to the pot. Stir a can of pumpkin into this mixture. Slowly add in chicken broth, stirring to incorporate pumpkin well. Simmer for 30-45 minutes. Just before serving, stir in cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 6:  499 calories  8 net g carb

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