Spicy Sausage Gnocchi Pumpkin Soup

Dipping temperatures outside can only mean one thing, it’s gotta get toasty inside!!

Can we finally say, soup season is here?!? The temperature has been so weird lately … not that I’m complaining, but we’ve been having warmer than normal days, and then this weekend — hellllloooooo November chill!

I’ve got a couple of soups floating around the blog, and ironically ( or not so ironically) most of them, have a pumpkin base. It’s the colour … the burst of orange, reminds me of fall. The spices, leave my home smells aaahhh-mazing.

This soup is hearty, its quick, it’s got a kick — aka perfect recipe, to leave you warm, comforted and with a soup baby.

Spicy Sausage Gnocchi Pumpkin Soup

·         2 lbs Turkey sausage

·         3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

·         1 large onion, chopped

·         3 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Thyme

·         2 Fresh Basil leaves

·         1 Dried Bay Leaf

·         ¼ tsp curry powder

·         ¼ tsp caraway seeds

·         1 ½ cups Pumpkin Puree

·         6 Cups Chicken Stock

·         2 cups Water

·         1 tbsp Salt

·         1 ½ tbsp. Black Pepper

·         1 package prepared gnocchi

 

Directions:

In a large non-stick frying pan, on medium-high heat brown the Italian sausage 2 minutes on each side.

Remove from heat, and allow to cool. Once cooled. Slice into bite sized pieces.

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil. Add cooked sausage, onions, garlic, thyme, basil, bay leaf, curry powder and caraway seeds. Allow to sauté for 7 minutes. All of your ingredients should start to become fragrant.

Add pumpkin, chicken stock, water , salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil.

Add gnocchi and cook for an additional 20 minutes.

Roasted Butternut Beer Nut Soup

SSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUPPPPP makes me want to slllllllllllllllllllllllllluuuuurrrrrp.

Sorry .. except, it’s true.

One of my pet peeves is loud eaters … there’s something about hearing someone chew like a cow that makes me want to ninja them in their head. I know sometimes it can’t be helped. It’s mostly those who chew with their mouths open that I can’t handle. Not that I would actually do anything to them, except shoot them evil laser beaming stink eye.

Here’s the fun part of this whole story … I’m a gulper.

My coffee … I gulp.

My Tea … I gulp.

And soup … I gulp.

Not on purpose and I definitely want to throat punch myself when I realize I’m doing it… but this soup – it’s totally gulp/slurp worthy.

Slurp away home-fries …

Perfect for a cold fall day, sweet – spicy – nutty. I added beernuts as a thickening agent to this soup… and beer #WINNING.

Another little story before I get to the recipe … or you can ignore this jibber-jabber and just scroll down. I read tons of food blog, some I comment on – others I read and admire in a corner.. in true creeper form. There are two blogs though that I read no.matter.what. these two are by far my favourite bloggers in all of internet land and I would probably get heart palpitations if I were to ever meet them in person.

 

Joy, from Joy the Baker and Jessica from How Sweet It Is. These wonder women and freaking geniuses … not to mention, cooler than this cat would ever be. The reason I mention this, is both these lovely ladies, have used funky things to thicken up their soups. Joy in her Vegan Carrot Jalapeno Soup used cashews .. cashews!!! ~ I don’t mean to be a snob, but TOLD YOU SHE WAS A GENIUS!!

And Jessica in her Smoked Gruyère butternut soup ( first, how freaking delicious does this sound?!?) added coconut milk.

I die. And also, because I want to be hip and happening like them when I grow up .. I used both soups as inspiration aka, I totally copied their ideas and then threw in some LTSL love.

Roasted Butternut Beer Nut Soup 

INGREDIENTS

1 large butternut squash, sliced in half lengthways

1 onion cut into chunks

4 Cloves of garlic

3 bay leaves

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

sea salt

pepper

2 cups of water

2 Cup of Beer Nuts

2 1/2 cups pumpkin ale

1 teaspoon Cinnamon Spice

1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

  

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss squash, onion, garlic, bay leaves, olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread in single layer on rimmed baking sheet. Roast with skin size up for  60 minutes.

While roasting, combine water and beer nuts in blender. Blend for 1 minuet to create a smooth paste.

Remove bay leaf from roasted vegetable and allow to cool slightly ( 10 minutes)

Add cooled roasted vegetables and blend until desired consistency ( you may need to add some water if you prefer a thinner soup – I ended up adding about a cup of water).

Pour into large pot, and reheat over medium.

Add cinnamon, paprika, clove and pumpkin ale.

Heat thoroughly and serve.

…. Welcome to a mish-mosh of thanksgiving and Sunday football!!