Pumpkin and Sage Sausage Soup

So, I will admit to usually watching a certain amount of TV each day. Alright, I spend most of my time in front of the TV, but in my defense, I do knitting or other things while I'm watching it. And sometimes I have it on more so I know what time it is, and so I have some noise in the apartment.

Anyway, one of the shows I like to watch is Rachael Ray. Since we no longer get the food network (one of my favorite TV channels), the Rachael Ray Show is one of my only ties to it, even though the show is not actually from the food network. But Rachael Ray is. Anyway, there was this recipe, using pumpkin and sage, and Rachael mentioned her husband likes to have sausage as well when she does pumpkin and sage together. Dan and I had had pumpkin soup earlier this fall, which tasted good, even though I hadn't cooked that batch of pumpkin correctly. Now I have a whole new batch of pumpkin, which I've baked and pureed, and tastes good. So, I put together a pumpkin soup and sage sausage recipe (we had sage sausage already), using as reference a recipe from Emeril Lagasse for pumpkin, sage, and sausage (note the subtle difference) and another general pumpkin soup recipe that let me specify the number of servings I wanted, and which used pureed pumpkin instead of not yet cooked pumpkin, like Emeril's did.

So, after that long introduction, here is the recipe:

Pumpkin and Sage Sausage Soup
1/4 pound sage sausage
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 3/4 cup chicken broth, or one 14 oz. can
1 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin*
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp dried parsley**
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the sage sausage in a skillet, breaking into small pieces. Drain if necessary (I didn't).

Meanwhile, cook the onions in the butter until soft and tender. Add the rest of the ingredients. Add the sausage when it is finish, and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer. I let it simmer for about half an hour because I was also baking bread to go with the soup. You probably don't have to wait that long, but it does meld the flavors.

Serves 2

*I'm not sure exactly how much pumpkin I used, but this should be about right. You can try putting in a little less first, and tasting it. The soup should taste like pumpkin, and if it is too weak, you should add a little more.
**I think I used dried parsley. My mother-in-law gave me some dried basil from her garden, but I thought that maybe some of it was actually parsley (she also grew parsley).