Pumpkin soup

I grew up learning that pumpkins are only good in strudels or as pig food. Later on in life, I was pretty surprised to see that people in other countries use them to make soup or eat them baked as a side-dish.
But my mind didn't want to accept this, making soup from a sweet vegetable I only use for cake.  So again, I needed about 30 years to try pumpkin soup. Well, after trying it, first thing that came to my mind was that the soup tasted intensely of pumpkin seeds. It's a sweet taste you need to get used to in a soup, but it is also one of the most beautiful soups I ever made. And I really mean beautiful, to have such a bright orange soup on a sunny autumn day is a happy event.

Difficulty: beginner
Preparation time: 1 hour
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1kg Hokaido pumpkin or butternut squash, chopped into rough chunks
• Oil
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 small red onions, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp red chilli flakes
• 400 g tin coconut milk
• 1/2 L soup(home-made or from concentrate)
• Sea salt and ground black pepper

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 220°C.
• Put the pumpkin in a roasting tin, sprinkle the thyme over it and toss in some oil. 
• Season with sea salt and ground black pepper and put in the oven to roast for 45 minutes or until the edges are slightly charred and tender when pierced with a fork. 
• In a large pot, heat some oil and fry the onions until they are soft. Stir through the chilli flakes and fry for a further minute. 
• (At this point you could peel the pumpkin with a spoon if you think that the peel is too tough) Add the roast pumpkin to the pot, along with the coconut milk and soup. 
• Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Using a blender, blend the soup until you have a smooth consistency. If the soup is too dense, add some water until you have the desired consistency.
• Add sea salt and ground black pepper until you get the desired saltiness.