Tasty Pumpkin Pie Soup

Pumpkin soup has become one of my favorite ways to start a meal on a chilly day. Like many recipes that I have, this one evolved. It began with a recipe in "Taste Of Home's" sister magazine "Light and Tasty," which contains lower calorie foods. I gathered the ingredients that the recipe called for and began to make what I hoped would be wonderful pumpkin soup. Only it wasn't. It was bland and pretty much awful. So I started adding and adjusting. I have reached the conclusion that when you remove all of the fat from a recipe, you also remove much of the flavor. Without some fat the feel of the soup on the tongue is just not as good as it could be. While reducing the calories is good, if you eat this soup before your meal, you will eat less during the meal. That means a calorie cut over all. the soup itself is fairly filling and the time that elapses while you are eating it allows your stomach time to signal your brain that you are full.

At first when I made this recipe, I used cans that said "100% pure pumpkin." I was rushing one evening and grabbed pumpkin pie filling by mistake. It was a fortunate error since we decided that we preferred it and I have used it from then on. While both work, the pie filling has a slightly sweeter taste as well as some seasoning that enhances the flavor of the pumpkin. By serving this in an elegant soup bowl, it can be a wonderful starter for a fancy fall dinner. If you use a more serviceable bowl it works wonderfully with sandwiches on a chilly night.

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small to medium onion chopped fine
1 small (4 ounce) package of Cream Cheese at room temperature
1 large can (29 ounce) of pumpkin pie filling
1 medium (32 ounce) container of Chicken Broth, or 4 cups of home made

In medium kettle saute the onion in the olive oil until the onion is clear. Keeping the burner on add the remaining ingredients in this order. Mix in the cream cheese until it is blended. Then add the pumpkin pie filling, mixing well. Then add the chicken broth a little at a time. When it is all blended simmer for about 5 minutes. For garnish serve with a slight sprinkle of nutmeg.