If you have a can of pumpkin puree leftover from Thanksgiving baking, I urge you to give this soup a try. Hearty, comforting and a tad spicy, it’s not overly pumpkin-y. This recipe is adapted from The Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorite food bloggers and author of a new cookbook coming out in 2012. My version is more rustic, thick with chunks of tomatoes and beans, and fresh chiles and chipotle powder to lend a southwest twist.

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

4 slices of bacon

1 cup diced shallots

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium chile, cored, seeded and minced (I used one of the Big Jim chiles we picked up in Corrales, NM. A jalapeno would also work.)

2- 15oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1- 15oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1- 15oz can diced tomatoes

½ – 1 tsp dried chipotle pepper, to taste

2 tsp fresh thyme

2 cups chicken or beef broth

salt and pepper

Sour cream, chives, pumpkin seeds for topping

In a soup pot, cook the bacon until crispy. Reserving the fat, remove bacon. Let cool and then crumble.

Over medium heat, sauté the shallots in reserved bacon fat until translucent. Add garlic and chile and cook for another minute. Add black beans and pumpkin. Mash a bit with the back of a fork until about half of the beans are smushed. Add tomatoes, juice and all. Mix in chipotle powder and thyme. Stir in broth and cook over low heat for 20 minutes.

Top with sour cream, chives, pumpkin seeds and crumbled bacon. This would be great with cornbread or biscuits. Mmmm. Speaking of biscuits – they’re my favorite quick bread and I’ve been making frequently – perhaps too frequently considering we’re no longer doing a lot of hiking. I’ll share my recipe soon.