Chipotle Black Bean and Pumpkin Chowder

I took a quick trip to the grocery store this morning, and, thinking it was warmer outside than it really was, left my coat at home. By the time I returned home, the chill had set in, and I decided it was a soup day. A friend of mine, Paul, mentioned on Face book this morning that he was making Corn chowder with roasted red peppers, which sounded really, really yummy (and I am still waiting for pictures!). Not wanting to copy him, I decided to make a Black Bean Pumpkin Soup that I found a while back on the Smitten Kitchen Blog. Between her ingredients and my cupboards, there were a few holes, though, so here is the recipe that I came up with. The chipotle gives it a nice smoky heat, perfect for a cool fall day! The Smitten Kitchen recipe called for ham, so here I substituted the black forest chicken.

Chipotle Black Bean and Pumpkin Chowder
 
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp cumin
3 cups pumpkin puree
1 can black beans, rinsed (19 oz)
1 can diced tomatoes with juice (28 oz)
2 cups chicken stock
4 thicker slices of black forest chicken, diced
2 Tbsp chipotle tobacco sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil and butter in large soup pot. Add onion, garlic and cumin, sauté over medium high heat until onion is starting to brown. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. (My stock and pumpkin were both frozen, so it took a bit to come to a boil) At this point I used my immersion blender, and coarsely pureed the soup, making sure to leave it a bit chunky. You could omit this step altogether, or puree it totally, depending on how you like your soup. I think the next time I make this I would add the diced chicken after the pureeing process.

The Smitten Kitchen recipe topped the soup with some brined and baked pumpkin seeds, which would have made a very nice addition. But, being as I used frozen pumpkin puree, and not fresh, I had no seeds to brine. Definitly something to try soon though!