Pumpkin Vegetable Soup with Bulghur Wheat

When Autumn arrives, I always crave a good, comforting soup.  This soup is wonderful because it has pumpkin in it.  If you don't want to use pumpkin, you can substitute Butternut Squash.

Pumpkin Vegetable Soup with Bulghur Wheat
1 Tbsp oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup bulghur wheat
14 oz can whole tomatoes in juice
1 cup pumpkin, peeled, diced (or butternut squash)
1 large zucchini, quartered and sliced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
4 cup boiling water
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
1 cup frozen peas
salt
pepper

1. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat and add onions and garlic.  Cover and cook 5-8 minutes until the onions are soft.
2. Stir in the bulghur wheat and continue cooking for 1 minute.
3. Layer the tomatoes, pumpkin, zucchini and jalapeno in the Dutch oven.
4. Combine half the water with the tomato paste and large pinch of salt.  Pour over the vegetables.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Uncover the pot and stir, add all spices, spinach and peas.  Add the remaining water and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.  
6. Stir the soup and adjust seasonings.  Ladle into a bowl and serve.

When I made this, I accidentally added a whole cup of bulghur wheat so I added extra liquid in the form of chicken stock to help with the flavor and fluidity of the soup.  It turned out really good.

Yum!

This post has been linked to:

• Life as Mom  - Cozy Suppers