Curried Pumpkin Soup

Hello friends! Are you all enjoying fall as much as I am? This is my first real one after living in the desert for four years and it is so glorious. In fact, I want to share one of my favorite fall dishes with you today. It's actually a recipe that I got from my mom; she's been making it for a few years. I modified it a bit to add some bacon, because bacon. Now that I'm in a seasonally appropriate climate, it's going to be my traditional Halloween night dish. I wanted to let you all in on it today, though, in case you wanted to join me and make it on the most spooktacular night of the year!

Curried Pumpkin Soup

12 ounces bacon, thinly sliced
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 - 1 teaspoon yellow curry powder
3 cups vegetable broth
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Fresh or frozen chives, optional

In a large sauce pan, fry the bacon until it is very crispy, working in batches if needed. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and let drain on paper towels. Remove all but two tablespoons of the bacon fat. Saute the onion and mushrooms in the bacon fat until tender. Stir in the flour and curry powder until blended. Gradually add broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for two minutes or until thickened.

Add the pumpkin, evaporated milk, honey, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; heat through. Garnish with bacon and chives (if desired) immediately before serving.

Make it work for you

This is totally doable on a work night. The most time-consuming part is slicing up and cooking the bacon, which you could do ahead of time. It's also a great make-ahead recipe. I made this for our Halloween potluck at work last year. I cooked up everything in the first paragraph the night before, then transferred that mixture and the rest of the ingredients to my slow cooker insert. That went inside the fridge until about two hours before lunch. I warmed it up on the low setting and it was all ready for us to enjoy. (Bonus: I got lots of great compliments on it!) This soup also keeps well for leftovers.

Some notes

• Make sure you get plain pumpkin. Do not get pumpkin pie mix. To verify you're buying the right thing, check the ingredients list: it should say pumpkin, and nothing else.
• Use the bacon wisely: top off each individual bowl right before eating. The crispy lardons add some great texture.
• Make this vegetarian by skipping the bacon and sauteing with butter or olive oil instead. Make it vegan by using oil and coconut milk.
• This would be a great light dinner to make for the night before Thanksgiving. Take care of the bacon a few days ahead of time to really cut down on the hands-on time.

Do not be afraid to try this soup! My husband is a pumpkin skeptic and he loves this stuff. I can't wait to enjoy a bowl of curried fall by the spoonful while handing out candy to adorable trick-or-treaters and watching Charlie Brown. :)