Pumpkin Soup
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Ingredients
1 large pumpkin, 2 small butternut squashes, 1 onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 pint vegetable stock, 1 tablespoon cumin, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 300ml double cream, butter, sage.
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1) Peel the butternut squash and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Cut into cubes and set aside.
2) Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and pith with a spoon. Make sure all the stringiness has been removed. Peel away the skin with a chef's knife and cut the flesh into cubes and set aside.
3) Roast both in the oven in an ovenproof dish with a lid for 50 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the roast vegetables and blend until smooth. The excess juice in in the ovenproof dish should make about a pint of liquid - do not discard it.
4) Peel and finely dice an onion and 3 cloves of garlic. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a stock pot and sizzle the onions until soft. Add the garlic and chopped sage leaves and then stir through the pureed pumpkin, pumpkin/squash juice and pint of vegetable stock.
5) Add the vegetable stock, cumin and pepper and stir through.
6) After 20 minutes, carefully strain the liquid from the mashed vegetables and pass them through a sieve. Be patient as this will take a while but the result - velvety smooth soup - is worth it.
7) Return to the hob along with the cream and leave to simmer for half an hour to one hour before serving.
