Low Fat Cream of Pumpkin Soup

2011-10-25 13:22
Mountain Standard Time

There are a lot of recipes for pumpkin soup that are laden with heavy cream and butter.  Have you ever checked out the fat and calorie content of those recipes?  I have and thought I bet I could do it just as tasty with out the other "stuff" in it.  Here is the result. 

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp cumin

3 cups fat-free, low sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 15-ounce can pumpkin or a pint of fresh puree (*I make my own, directions for how to do so following this recipe)

1 12-ounce can evaporated fat-free milk

Freshly ground Black pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened. Stir in cumin and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and pumpkin. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add evaporated fat-free milk and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer soup to a blender and blend until smooth.

You can do it in a crockpot as well, just after browning your onion and garlic, puree your pumpkin.  Put all ingredients except the milk into the crockpot on low for 4 hours.  20 minutes before serving stir in the milk.  Turn the pot to high for heat through.  Serve.

*Cut your pumpkin in half.  Scrape off the seeds and strings.  Put on a greased cookie pan flesh side down and bake for 30  minutes (or until soft) at 350 degrees.  Remove from oven let cool completely.  Scrape the flesh from the skin and discard skin.  Then you can use the pumpkin for anything you want from soup to cookies to cake.