Farmhouse Kitchen Recipe: Pumpkin Chili with Lamb

Hi! I’m Alexa, author of the blog TheDuvallHomestead.com where I write about farm to table eating and homemade natural living. Ten years ago I started learning how to cook real food with real ingredients, like a whole chicken with farm fresh, imperfect-looking carrots and potatoes. After years of practicing cooking from scratch and learning how to use real food to improve health and wellness, it was this passion that drove me to start the blog The Duvall Homestead. My husband John and I have since then learned how to keep chickens and grow some of our own food, and my dream of an all natural, all organic home is coming true in new ways each day.

You can start homesteading no matter where you live! My advice would be to start with one thing at a time. Try making a sourdough starter or planting some herbs on a windowsill. Use your hands to refinish and paint old furniture, or sew yourself some curtains. While you can buy food and furniture from a store, yes, there is something so much more satisfying when you make something all by yourself!

Pumpkin Chili

1 pound ground meat (we like lamb in this recipe, but beef or whatever you have on hand works too)
1 onion
1 whole head of garlic
One can pumpkin puree, or half a pumpkin chopped and roasted
One can of white cannellini beans, strained and rinsed
5 small to medium carrots, chopped
3 cups of bone broth, or more depending on how thick you like it

Seasonings

2 tsp salt (note – if using store bought bone broth that already contains salt, add less salt)
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp turmeric

Toppings

Fresh parsley
Grated cheddar cheese
Sour cream (optional)
Pumpkin or sunflower seeds (optional)

Process

Cut the onion in half and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Then cut about a quarter inch off the top of a whole head of garlic. Add garlic to the pan. Drizzle the onion and garlic with some olive oil and roast in the oven at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, brown the ground lamb in a cast iron until cooked. This helps the lamb brown fully and keep its flavor, instead of just throwing it in the soup uncooked.
Add the onion, garlic, pumpkin, and bone broth to an Instant Pot or other stovetop soup pot. Using an immersion blender, blend them all together until smooth and thick.
Add the beans, carrots, lamb, salt, pepper, and spices. Cook on medium high, covered, for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If using an Instant Pot, pressure cook on the “meat/stew” mode until complete.
Before serving, drizzle with sour cream, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, and freshly grated cheese. Serve your pumpkin chili on a cold fall night and freeze your leftovers to savor all season long.