Meatless Mondays: Mediterranean Pumpkin Soup

My wonderful friend Jess made this soup a couple of weeks ago and had me try a bite of it. I loved the smoky pumpkin flavor and the fact that this recipe is super healthy. I borrowed her cookbook and made it just a few days later. It's a great way to use up one of the several cans of pumpkins I still have sitting in my pantry from hoarding them this fall. I say hoarding because I was told that canned pumpkin would be in limited supply at our commissary. This caused me to not only purchase three or four cans here on the island, but I also also freaked out when there were truly none in stock at the store and asked my Mom to ship some cans to me from the States. My lovely obliging Momma sent me four cans. Note to self: seven large cans of pureed pumpkin is a little excessive. Regardless, this soup is a wonderful and guilt free Meatless Monday Meal!

Mediterranean Pumpkin Soup
From Mediterranean: A Taste of the Sun Cookbook and my friend Jess :)
Serves 4
Printable Version
Ingredients
2 pounds pumpkin, peeled and seeds removed (I used 28 ounces canned pumpkin)
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 leeks, trimmed and sliced (I used 1/2 yellow onion)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons cumin
3 3/4 cups chicken stock (I used homemade turkey stock given to me by  my friend Krimp)
2 tablespoons peanut butter (I added this in, was not in original recipe)
Salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro leaves to garnish
4 tablespoons plain yogurt, to serve


Directions
Cut the pumpkin into chunks. Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch Oven to medium and add the leeks (or onion) and garlic. Cook gently until softened. Add the ginger and cumin and cook, stirring for another minute. Add the pumpkin and the chicken stock and season with salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes, until the pumpkin is tender. Process the soup in batches if necessary or use a hand blender to create desired thickness (not necessary if you used canned pumpkin).  Serve the soup in bowls with a swirl of yogurt and a garnish of cilantro leaves.