This recipe is for savory soup and not the typically pumpkin pie spiced soup. My friend Susan served this at a camping weekend on a cold fall afternoon under the brilliantly colored leaves on a New England Columbus Day Weekend.  Over the years, the pantry version was developed with pantry substitutions given in parenthesis.  This recipe is easily halved or made into a vegetarian version.  The recipe is well suited to a thermal cooker as only one pan is used.  Please treat this as a basic recipe and be creative by adding your own favorite spices – curry, cardamom, etc.  Substitute butternut squash or sweet potatoes.  All versions are very good!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into thin strips (or 3 slices bacon) or leave out
• 1 large onion, cut into 1/8 inch dice
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (28 ounce) plain pumpkin (fresh pumpkin not advised)
• 1 quart vegetable or chicken broth
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper (or black pepper if you don’t mind the specks)
• ½ cup cream (at least 10% fat) or (½ cup skim milk w 1T butter) or (½ cup condensed milk) or (½ cup almond milk)
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, Asiago, Romano, or smoked cheese (or ¼ cup Kraft parmesan cheese – green cylinder)
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley (2 teaspoon dried parsley)

Heat oil in deep skillet over medium high heat.  Add the prosciutto and saute’ until crisp and frizzled. Remove with slotted spoon and reserve.

Reduce heat to medium, add onion, sauté’ until tender (do not brown).  Add garlic, cook for a few seconds.  Stir in pumpkin, broth, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil.  Transfer to a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker, cover and cook for 3-4 hours on high, or 6-8 hours on low.

Stir in the cream and Parmesan, heat through about 5 minutes.   Stir in parsley and serve.