Roasted Pumpkin Soup - Fit for The Gods

Barbara from winosandfoodies is holding her annual event LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow 2009.
This is to honour the work of the Lance Armstrong Foundation
This is Barbara’s way of supporting the foundation by raising awareness of cancer issues worldwide.
If you click here you will be linked to Barbara’s wonderful blogs.
It seems most years we have a friend die of this dreadful disease. But this year was even more poignant for us, with the long fight, struggle and inevitable death, of our dear friend Michael. Seen here June 2008 in Tahiti.

So my entry, is this very tasty Pumpkin Soup (pushing the yellow a bit) but a soup of worth.

Once again the freezer was helpful. I had made some bacon bone stock and I have to say it lifted what would be a nice soup, into a great soup. Nothing like homemade stock.
For 4 people

1 litre Bacon stock (see below for recipe)

1/2 a medium buttercup squash
1 large onion
2 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce

Cut pumpkin onto wedges and the onion into quarters
Toss with oil and season S & P
Roast in 180C oven about 45 minutes.

Remove from oven
Cut skin off pumpkin roughly chop
Also just roughly chop the onion.

Add to pot with a little more oil

Sauté
Add cumin, cook a little longer
Add Tabasco
Then add stock and you will need to add some water making sure the vegetable are covered.
Bring to boil and simmer about 20 minutes till vege are really tender

Into the blender
Blitz
Serve.

I made Cheese and relish toasted sandwiches to have with our dinner.
Just perfect.

Bacon Stock
Buy a bag of bacon bones from your butcher

Place in stock pot
Roughly chop
2 carrot
1 onion
2 parsnip
2 stalk of celery
1/2 head garlic
Handful of parsley stalks and all
Some celery leaves

6-8 black freshly ground black pepper corns

Cover with water

Bring to boil and simmer slowly about 2 hours
Skimming any scum off as you go.

Strain and pop into freezer in 1 litre containers.

You are ready to go. Particularly good with pea soup.

Should give you 3 litres.
Freezes really well.