Souper Mr Pumpkin Soup

Now that we've carved our first EVER pumpkin, and even stuck a tealight in him for a little while, we're left with the challenge of finding something to do with a large gourd that we've never cooked with before.  I know if I was American, or had any great culinary skills, I could make pumpkin pie, but not without some serious help.  So I opted for a failsafe idea.  Soup.

I love homemade soup, it's my favourite thing about autumn.  Tomato, cauliflower, broccoli & stilton, mushrooms, nothing is safe from my evil glare & stick blender!  So I decided to turn Mr Pumpkin into Mr Pumpkin Soup, with the help of my beloved slow cooker.

Mr Pumpkin

Ingredients

Half a medium sized (carving style) pumpkin. Preferably the non-carved half! 

One onion

1 litre stock (veg or chicken, up to you)

Two big pinches dried thyme

Large “end of a teaspoon” of dried cumin

Method

Peel the pumpkin & chop into matchbox sized chunks.

Dice the onion

Put all the ingredients into a slow cooker for 1 hour on high, then switch off & attack with a stick blender to turn the pumpkin chunks into soupiness.

Turn slow cooker back on low, and stir occasionally until you’re ready to serve.

Add a swirl of crème fraiche & serve with crusty bread.

(N.B. If you haven't got a slow cooker, it'll work just as well in a saucepan on the hob, and probably cook a bit quicker, but you'll need to stir it more often to avoid burnt bits at the bottom)

Mr Pumpkin Soup

This made about 2 1/2 litres of soup, so if you're not planning to feed an entire army, you might want to reduce the measures slightly.  But it freezes well, and reheats well.  Above it's pictures in my new favourite thing, my Sistema Soup-to-go microwave soup mug. Perfect for carrying to work.  Small things please this small mind.