Happy Halloween! :D
For my soup, I vaguely followed this recipe: I used all the ingredients listed here. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pumpkinsoup_89904)
However, as there are only two of us, I halved the amounts (and used a much smaller pumpkin! Only about 2kg)
To begin with, I hollowed out the pumpkin, but didn't worry about leaving 1 inch of flesh around it, as I haven't used my pumpkin to serve the soup in (I did however, leave enough that I could later carve it) :)
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Then I more or less followed the recipe exactly for a while - softened the onions in the butter:
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Chopped the pumpkin flesh and added it to the pan with a cinnamon stick, ground nutmeg, and salt and pepper:
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(https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10670214_478379015633256_7116309050903851044_n.jpg?oh=1c2526bd913b4d6f6968057ad6818aea&oe=54E061DF)
I find timings on recipes online to be a bit out and/or inconsistent at times, but do cook this for the recommended 45 minutes to release all the flavour (I possibly even left it a little longer) :)
Added the stock and brought soup to the boil:
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After letting it simmer for a few minutes I then liquidised it with a hand blender (Don't forget to remove the cinnamon stick at this point before liquidisation!) (NOTE: Hand blenders are incredible when making soup. It literally took 30-40 seconds):
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This is where I diverged from the recipe, having brought the soup back to the boil, I added the sherry:
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Having let that boil as well for 5 minutes or so, I tested the soup, and seasoned with pepper again.
Done!
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(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/1621851_478378742299950_4783784140940701686_n.jpg?oh=9ccf8958fa72b0186060afe205d63814&oe=54AEEC20&__gda__=1420657949_ad622668a66f890863df7bd367449530)
It was really simple to make, and tastes delicious!
(NOTE: I wouldn't expect the amount we've made to really feed 4-5 unless they're quite small portions, but I find BBC recipes are always off on serving size anyway :P )