The inspiration for this soup came from a recipe that was published in Chile Pepper Magazine. I would link you to it but their website is under construction right now. Their address is www.chilepepper.com.
I have been a subscriber to Chile Pepper Magazine ever since I first saw it at a bookstore. It is a great magazine that has many fun recipes that are not just about chiles.
Their soup recipe was called Pumpkin Turkey Soup and it was probably a recipe to use up leftover Thanksgiving turkey.
I had some pork in my freezer that I wanted to use and decided that the flavors in their recipe would be great with my pork.
The other ingredients in the soup are roasted pasilla chiles (or you can use canned Ortega chiles if you don’t want to take a chance on the pasillas being too hot- mine were pretty hot!), canned black beans, corn and a small can of pumpkin puree.
All of these flavors are incredible together. The pumpkin is just in the background, it is not a dominant flavor- it helps the other flavors to merge together.
I froze some of my leftover soup so I could enjoy it another time or two.
Chile Pepper’s original recipe garnished the soup with roasted pepita (pumpkin) seeds before it was served. I didn’t do that this time but I will in the future. The little crunch and nutty flavor will be nice.
This recipe made about 7 cups of soup. That is enough for 4-6 servings.
I shared the link to this recipe at Gluten Free Wednesdays at The Gluten Free Homemaker, Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple, Real Food Wednesday at Kelly The Kitchen Kop, Real Food Weekly at The Whole Gang, Frugal Food Thursday at Frugal Follies, Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story, Everything But The Kitchen Sink at A Little Knick Knack, This Weeks Cravings at Moms Crazy Cooking, Soup-a-Palooza at Tidy Mom
1 pound of boneless pork chops, cut into pieces or
2 pounds of pork chops with bones, part of the meat cut off into chunks and the rest left with the bone to brown and cook down (I used a combination because that’s what I had in my freezer)
Brown pork in large saucepan or stockpot with 1 Tblsp olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and some garlic powder.
When pork is nicely browned, add 6 cups of chicken or pork stock and
2 cups chopped onion
2 Tblsp fresh garlic, chopped fine
Simmer pork, stock, onion and garlic together for about 15 minutes.
If you have used pork with bones, remove the pieces with the bones and chop into pieces, discarding the bones.
Return the pork to the stock mixture and add:
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 Tblsp lime juice
1 Tblsp Trader Joes Jalapeno Salsa (the vinegar in it helps to brighten the flavors of the soup)
1- 15 oz can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix with spices)
2 cups of corn (I used frozen)
1- 15 oz can of black beans (I like Bushs or S&W)
1- 7 oz can Fire Roasted Ortega Chiles, drained, seeded and chopped
If you want a little more heat, then roast some fresh pasilla chiles on a piece of aluminum foil on ‘broil’ in your oven. As they brown on each side (not totally charred because you will be pulling off more than just the skin), keep turning 1/4 turn with tongs. When the chiles are done roasting, place in plastic vegie bag and seal so it will steam for 10 minutes. This will help to loosen the skin. If chiles bother you then use gloves to work with them. Peel the roasted chiles and remove seeds and stems. Chop for the soup.
I used 2 pasilla chiles in my batch of soup and one of them was pretty hot!
Simmer everything together for about 30 minutes.
When you are ready to serve the soup, garnish each bowl with some roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
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This sounds great. It’s been very cold here this week, but for some reason I haven’t made soup.
welcome to tuesday night supper club! thank you for sharing this hearty and healthy soup with us. i can almost taste it and am swooning over the lovely flavors!
Thank you for your nice comments Christy! It is a yummy soup!
This looks awesome. I checked it out for the carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop. I am Mexican so the combo of pork and chile is always appealing. Fabuloso!
Hi Melissa! Thanks for your comment! I seem to gravitate to either Mexican or Italian type flavors with my cooking! I will be posting my recipe for Pork Pozole after the first of the year. It is another incredible soup that is a whole meal! Happy Holidays!
Wow that looks wonderful. I can almost smell it. Thank you for sharing this on Real Food Weekly.
Thank you Diane! I love this soup!
Hi this is Nicole from Colie’s Kitchen I just discovered your blog on and wanted to drop by and say hi. I am now a new follower. I would love to have you stop by Colie’s Kitchen if you get a chance. http://www.colieskitchen.com