My Mom's Famous Pumpkin Soup

My mom has been making this soup for Thanksgiving ever since I can remember and it's always a crowd favorite. The beautiful thing is you can make the base of this recipe ahead of time, making your life even easier during a crazy time of year. The ingredient list is short, but the spices give it such delicious and warming flavors. Already have too much on your menu for Thanksgiving? No worries! Throw this together on a chilly fall day and enjoy it as your lunch or dinner, or both hehe ;)

Makes: 6-8 servings

(can easily be doubled or tripled)

INGREDIENTS:

4 tbsp salted butter

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 leeks, white part only, chopped

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree

4 cups chicken broth

1 tsp salt, + more to taste

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp each: ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground white pepper

1 bay leaf

1 cup half & half

1. In a medium soup pot, melt the butter. Then sauté the onion and leeks, stirring occasionally, until soft (about 4-5 min).

2. Stir in pumpkin, chicken broth, salt, spices & bay leaf. Bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.

3. Now it's time to puree the soup. An immersion blender is easiest, but you can also carefully transfer to a blender or food processor. If doing the latter, I highly recommend doing this in batches.

4. At this point, the soup can be refrigerated for several days or frozen.

5. Before serving, return to pot. Add the half & half and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Taste and season with more salt or spices if needed.

Be sure to take a pic & tag @thepreppedpalate in your creations 📸