PUMPKIN SOUP WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Do you have leftover pumpkins from Halloween that you or your kids never carved?!? Well, we did, and they have been eyeing me everyday to get cooked. There are a couple things that make pumpkins so great. One….they last friggin’ forever.  And two….once roasted, they freeze like a boss. If you have little babies just starting to eat, pureed pumpkin is a great 1st food for them! Just freeze in little ice cube trays and pop one out for them. Easy peasy.

Anyway, this post isn’t about the things you can do with pumpkin, it’s about the delicious, easy recipe that will make your heart go pitter patter. Like so good, my kids had 3rds! THIRDS!! (Anything squashy or pumpkiny they aren’t big fans of, so this is definitely a winner)

This is the perfect fall/winter soup. You know, one of those soups that makes you want to sit by the fire all bundled up listening to Christmas music. Feel free to use canned pumpkin if you don’t have any roasted up….but I suggest grabbing some pumpkins at the store before they are all gone, roasting a bunch up then just freezing it until ready to use.

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PUMPKIN SOUP WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 medium pumpkins, sliced in half and seeds removed (about 6-8 cups)
• 2 small yellow onions, diced
• 1 package of bacon, crumbled
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 tbl balsamic vinegar
• oil for drizzling on pumpkin
• 3 cups water
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice pumpkins in half and clean them out. drizzle a little oil on them then place skin side up on a baking sheet.
3. Place pumpkin in oven and let bake for 35-40 minutes.
4. While pumpkin is baking, cook up your bacon.
5. Once bacon is done, set aside to let cool.
6. In the same pan you cooked your bacon in add your diced onion. (You will need to remove some of the bacon grease from the pan before adding onion. Leave about a tbl of bacon grease)
7. Turn stove to low and stir onions around. Add your balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt and mix again.
8. Frequently stir onions for 15 minutes or until onions are very soft and have a deep golden brown color to them. Remove and set aside.
9. When pumpkin is done, let cool enough so you can scoop it into a large pot.
10. Add your broth and stir to combine.
11. If you want your soup to be very smooth, take an immersion blender and blend it all up.
12. Once it is blended, add in your carmelized onions and bacon (I just tear the bacon up and add it into the pot) Mix well.
13. Taste then add seasonings. Bacon is pretty salty already so you may just need to add some pepper

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The caramelized onions is what makes this dish out of this world. Well and the bacon. The bacon makes this dish too!! When does bacon NOT make a dish. Never! Also, remember when you are caramelizing the onions you have to do it low and slow. LOW AND SLOW.

And sidenote: I actually like to caramelize a bunch of onions at once then store it in an air tight container in the fridge. They are pretty great on almost anything. Atop a burger, Yup. On your morning eggs, you betcha. Over a big ol’ steak, ohh yeeaahh! (Insert all the drool emojis)

Tell me, what do you like to do with your leftover halloween or Thanksgiving pumpkins? Are you are “sweet” pumpkin person, or a “savory” pumpkin person. I’m more of a savory pumpkin person. Unless it’s my sister in laws pumpkin pie. Then I’m most definitely a sweet pumpkin girl!

Whole30: yes

Paleo: yes