Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the bell pepper and saute for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the onion and garlic and saute for another five minutes, stirring occasionally.
While the veggies are sauteeing, rinse and drain the black beans. Mash half of the beans slightly with a potato masher, or run them briefly through a food chopper, until they are chunked up but not pureed. (This helps add some texture to the soup.)
Take out the cream cheese to soften.
After sauteeing the veggies, stir in the vegetable broth, pumpkin chipotle pasta sauce, black beans, and seasonings. Increase heat under the pot and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Chop the softened cream cheese into small chunks. Add these into the soup pot and whisk continuously until the cream cheese is melted & well incorporated.
Top bowls of soup with optional chopped green onion.
Notes
Note: If you don’t have pumpkin chipotle pasta sauce on hand, you can try substituting a can of pureed pumpkin, a can of tomato sauce, and chopped chipotle in adobo to taste.