Chesapeake Crab and Pumpkin Soup

Halloween might be over, but that certainly doesn't mean you have to give up on all things pumpkin.  After all, everyone else has a pumpkin-spice something on their menus or product lineups this fall; why shouldn't I?!  This is a recipe I've had earmarked for trial for months and months, but kept questioning whether it'd really be good or if I'd be wasting money on crab meat.  Not to mention that my husband tends to shy away from many of my culinary experimentations, even if they are someone else's recipes!  Even my own mother, who tends to love trying new things, thought this sounded sub-par.  I'm so glad I didn't listen to either of them.  This soup is divine!  It's the perfect marriage between curried pumpkin soup and she-crab soup, both of which are personal favorites of mine.  I hope you'll try it...I just know you'll love it!

3 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, halved and sliced into half-moons

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

4 cups chicken stock

1 29-ounce can pumpkin (make sure you don't get the pumpkin pie filler)

1 pound crab meat (I used lump), shells removed

2 cups half-and-half

fresh basil leaves for garnish

freshly ground black pepper for garnish

Melt the butter in a stockpot.  Add the onion and saute until translucent.  Stir in the sugar, salt, cayenne, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Add the stock, pumpkin, and crab meat.  Bring to a boil and reduce the heat.  Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.  Stir in the half-and-half.  Simmer 10 minutes more.  Ladle into soup bowls.  Garnish with basil and ground pepper.

Serves 6-8.

Recipe adapted from My Mama Made That, by the Junior League of Hampton Roads.