Potato and Pumpkin Soup

I've been slacking off a bit and failing to post new entries, and yet, I still remain completely obsessed with eating soup with crusty bread.  Especially squash-based soups. There's something about this time of year that brings that out of me!

This recipe was inspired last night by two seemingly independent things:  1.  we had a large bag of red potatoes that needed to be used up (I hate wasting food), and 2. I wanted to get some canned pumpkin to feed my cat (yes, cats love pumpkin, and it's a great source of fiber.  I give them a teaspoon as a treat sometimes).  I had never thought of combining potatoes and pumpkin with thyme and cinnamon, but it really worked well, and I suggest you try it sometime.  You could easily scale this down, but I like making big batches of soup to have tasty left overs for lunches during the week.

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
6-7 potatoes, pealed, and cubed (I used large red potatoes, because that's what we had around)
12-14 cups vegetable broth (I used water + bullion cubes here)
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons thyme
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
3-5 tablespoons brown sugar (taste and add as needed)
1 1/2 cans pureed pumpkin (Depending on how much pumpkin taste you like, you could just use 1 or 2 whole cans.  I chose 1 1/2 cans because I wanted some pumpkin left over to feed my cats.  Yes, cats love pumpkin).
3 tablespoons butter (optional, vegan if omitted)
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat some olive oil in a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat.  Add onion, and cook until it starts to become translucent.  Add garlic, and cook for 1-2 minutes longer, until fragrant.  Add potatoes, broth, cinnamon, thyme, cloves, salt and pepper, and some of the brown sugar, and cook (stirring occasionally) until potatoes are very well cooked and falling apart.  Add pumpkin, and cook for 5 minutes more.  Taste and adjust any seasonings to your liking-- I found I used about 5 tablespoons of brown sugar total.  Use a blender/food processor/immersion blender to puree soup to completely smooth.  Taste again and adjust any seasoning.  If you like add a few tablespoons of butter to help finish the soup and give it a creamy taste.  Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!