Mexican Pumpkin Soup
with Chorizo Spiced Black Beans or Meat
The foundation of this recipe came to me from Russ Crandall at The Domestic Man. I tweaked it to make it legume friendly and flexitarian. The pumpkin soup is a great basic blended vegetable soup recipe that can be enjoyed as is or upscaled with chorizo-spiced black beans, ground meat or chorizo sausage - you take your pick. I love chorizo spicing but I don’t do well eating a lot of pork. This recipe lets me enjoy it in other ways. It adds an awesome spicy kick to the gentle flavourings of the pumpkin soup. Garnished with a handful of greens or a cilantro flavoured green sauce and you’ve got a delicious and well balanced meal. If the thought of making the chorizo spiced black beans feels like too much, just add plenty or chili powder to a can of black beans and you are all set. Enjoy!
MEXICAN PUMPKIN SOUP
Serves 8. Feel free to halve the recipe. I love having leftover soup in my freezer.
Ingredients for the Soup:
4 tablespoons avocado oil or quality fat of your choice
2 good sized onion diced
6-8 cloves garlic minced
4 teaspoons oregano (adjust to taste depending on how strong/fresh your oregano is)
1 tsp ground cumin
8 cups cooked pumpkin (or winter squash). Canned is fine if need be- whatever is realistic for your energy level and accessiblity. I prefer pumpkin as its not as sweet as winter squash
1 cup pureed roasted red peppers ( I use grocery store roasted red peppers in glass). Whatever is extra I puree and freeze in 125ml mason jars. Great flavouring addition to many recipes.
6 cups stock or broth - more or less based on the texture you prefer
Salt to taste (about 2 teaspoons - more or less to taste depending on broth flavouring)
Pepper - I like 1 teaspoon
Optional depending on your taste buds: pinch of chilies, squeeze of lime
To Garnish: fresh cilantro, other greens, a green sauce, chorizo spiced black beans or meat see recipe below or cooked chorizo sausage
To make the Soup
Sauté the onions in the avocado oil till softened. Add the garlic and sauté a few minutes more. Puree the onions with pumpkin, oregano, cumin and stock in batches till super smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. And chilies and lime if needed. Garnish with cilantro and optional Chorizo Black Beans see below
CHORIZO SPICED BLACK BEANS OR GROUND MEAT
Ingredients for the Chorizo Black Beans or Ground Meat:
2 tablespoons avocado oil or other quality fat of your choice
4 cloves garlic
3 cups cooked black beans or 1 pound ground meat or your choice
1/2 cup pureed roasted red pepper or 1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika or ancho chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Chilies or cayenne to taste
To make the chorizo spiced black beans or ground meat
Sauté the garlic in oil for a few minutes on medium. (If using ground meat, add it now and brown it nicely before adding the pureed red peppers). If using black beans, add the black beans and pureed red peppers together. If using whole spices, grind them up together with the herbs in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Add herbs and spices to the beans and garlic mixture. Season to taste with salt, apple cider vinegar and chilies. You want it to be spunky, flavourful and as spicy as you can tolerate. Garnish your bowl of soup with a generous spoonful, or use it in other recipes where you might want a spicy kick.
A few notes and other options:
I like to add turmeric to a recipe whenever I can get away with it. This is a recipe where that works without much effect on the overall flavour or visual impact of the soup. Add 1 tsp of tumeric to the oil and onion mixture for the soup, together with a pinch of black pepper. By the time the onions are softened the turmeric will be well integerated in the oil base.
The original recipe called for Mexican oregano, which I don’t have so for fun I thought I’d try subbing in Monarda instead of regular oregano. Jim MacDonald introduced me to the idea of using Bee Balm or Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), in place of oregano as it has a vaguely similar taste. And it worked. Great recipe for using Monarda as a seasoning.