Hearty Sausage and Pumpkin Soup

Continuing the pumpkin kick...

My boyfriend and I whipped up a hearty sausage and pumpkin soup last night, perfect for a rainy Sunday night. We just sort of threw things in the pot willy-nilly, and here's what ended up in there:

- 6 hot Italian sausages
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1/2 chipotle pepper with adobo sauce (chop up the pepper)
- 1 29-oz can of pure pumpkin
- 1 15-oz can of black beans
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- salt & pepper
- cumin, to taste
- chili powder, to taste
- pinch of cinnamon
- Chipotle Tabasco sauce, to taste
- lime

Remove sausages from the casings, and cook in a large stockpot until browned. Add onions, garlic, and chipotle pepper with adobo sauce. Cook until onions are translucent, season the mixture with S&P, cumin, and chili powder.

Add pumpkin and black beans, mix with sausage before adding chicken stock. Add the cinnamon and more spices/Tabasco as you like, simmer for about 20 minutes. Stir in the half-and-half, serve when heated through. Finish with a squeeze of the lime over individual bowls.

This was especially delicious with hunks of home-made cornbread dropped into the soup. The high-fiber content makes the soup quite filling, so I would say that this makes 6 substantial portions.