Pumpkin Chili

I’m always intrigued by recipes that have unusual ingredients in the title and I usually end up making them. I once made brownies with cayenne pepper in them (Brownies With a Kick) and they were delicious! There are exceptions to this rule however. Like, any recipe with “whole fish” in the title is not for me. I don’t want food staring at me while I try to eat it. Or anything that says “live.” No. The point of food is that it’s dead.  But Pumpkin Chili? That’s not so scary sounding. I love soups with pumpkin stirred in. It gives it a little something special. This soup is very hearty and the pumpkin gives it a smooth taste. It’s easy to make and it’s very warming during this coooooooooooooooooold season. I’ll just stop right here and tell you that the Farmer’s Almanac was VERY wrong. It is NOT a mild winter. Where do they get their information?

We need ground meat, chopped onion, garlic powder, red bell pepper, chili powder, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, pinto beans, water, pureed pumpkin, diced chilies, and salt/pepper to taste. Notice there is no meat in the picture. Why? Because it doesn’t matter what kind of meat you use in this recipe. Obviously I’m using ground venison, but you can use whatever meat you have on hand – ground beef, ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground pork. Or, if you’re a vegetarian (I’m so very sorry) you can use soy meat crumbles.

Get out your soup pot and brown your meat in there, along with the chopped onion. Also add the garlic powder here…….however much floats your boat. If you’re single, really dump it in there – or if you’re mad at your husband, use the whole container.

While your meat is browning, you need to rinse your beans. This is for a couple reasons. One – we don’t want to add the milky juice in the can to our chili. It doesn’t make it very pretty. Second – it’s supposed to get rid of the gas……if you believe that, I have some property to sell you.

I don’t always drain my meat, but I do when I’m making soup. I don’t like that filmy surface on the top when the fat is left in there. As you can see, the venison doesn’t have much fat. I just skimmed this off using a teaspoon. If you use turkey or chicken, you might not have any fat to drain.

Return the pan to the oven and add the chopped red peppers and chili powder. Cook it for a just a few minutes. It allows the peppers to get a bit soft – mine were frozen so they were already a bit soft. If your peppers are fresh, you might need to cook them a tad bit longer to get rid of the crunch.

Add the rest of the ingredients: tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, pumpkin, water, chilies, salt and pepper to taste. Stir it up to get all the ingredients incorporated. It smells delicious! I love how cooking chili makes the house smell. Who needs a candle? Bring the chili to a boil.

When it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and put on the lid. You want to simmer it for about twenty minutes. This lets the flavors blend. I let mine simmer a lot longer than that – about two hours. I didn’t want to let it get cold and reheat it for dinner, so I just let it keep simmering and simmering. It gave it a really nice, bold flavor. You’ll have to stir it several times to keep it from sticking. You don’t want it to boil, but just simmer – let the bubbles barely break the surface.

There weren’t any leftovers. None. Nada. This stuff is GOOD! I served it with Mexican Cornbread…..even Annie polished off her bowl. I wish I hadn’t let her eat it through because she was up at midnight with gas. Oops. Thank you Mylicon! See, I told you rinsing the beans wouldn’t work. But do it anyway –it’ll make you feel better.