Pumpkin Sausage Soup

In honor of the first week of October happening this week, I've decided to do a week of pumpkin recipes. Someone forgot to tell Texas weather that it's fall, but the spirit of fall is in the air. Grocery stores are displaying tons of pumpkin desserts, Halloween stores are open, and Christmas decorations are already on sale. But then again, I've seen Christmas decorations in stores since June. Anyways, pumpkin recipes will be happening for the week. I'm pretty excited, but since I'm cooking for one, and apparently never cook small batches of anything, I'm going to be eating pumpkin at EVERY meal this week. I would say that I'm concerned about getting tired of pumpkin, but I LOVE pumpkin, so I think we're safe.

Pumpkin Sausage Soup

2 Tbls olive oil

1 pound sweet Italian sausage (bulk if you can find it)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

1.5 Tbls sage leaves, chiffonade

3/4 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)

1 1/4 cup chicken broth, homemade if you have it

1 bay leaf

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Salt and pepper, to your taste

1. Heat 1 Tbls of olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Once the olive oil is hot, add the sausage. If you couldn't find mild (a.k.a. "sweet") Italian sausage, and instead have the sausage itself, make a light cut lengthwise along the sausage, then fold flip the sausage inside how, keeping hold of the casing. Use your hands to break up the sausage to smaller chunks.

2. Cook the sausage for a few minutes, until it's thoroughly cooked.

3. Transfer the sausage to paper towel, to allow the fat to be drained.

4. Heat another 1 Tbls of olive oil to a skillet and toss in the garlic and onions. Cook for 5 minutes until onions are soft.

5. Now add the sage, bay leaf, and wine to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes to allow the wine to reduce. (To chiffonade the sage, roll up the leaves, and then make small slices from the rolled edge.)

6. Mix in the chicken broth and pumpkin puree. Once the concoction starts to bubble, reduce the heat to low.

7. Stir in the coconut milk and the sausage, and cook for 5-10 minutes to allow the soup to thicken.