Soothing soup

I made this pumpkin soup for an office brunch today. Simple, lovely, inexpensive because I grew the pumpkin myself. Will also make a lovely sauce for pasta with some parmesan cheese.

Pure Pumpkin Soup

1 "sugar" or "pie" pumpkin

1/4 c butter
1 c diced onion (I used 1 1/2 medium onions)

2 cans chicken broth

1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
salt and pepper

The night before, heat your oven to 350. Set your pumpkin on a cookie sheet. Pierce with a meat fork or a knife 3 or 4 times (pierce the top of the pumpkin). Roast for 1 hour. Turn the oven off and leave the pumpkin there while you sleep.

The next morning, cook the onion in butter until lightly caramelized. Meantime, seed and peel the pumpkin. Make sure to remove all the stringy stuff! Then cut it in chunks about 1.5 inches square (rough estimate). Add to onions along with 1 can of broth. Simmer 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.

Puree in batches, adding a little broth from your other can to each batch. After pureeing each batch, transfer to crock pot to keep warm. Add spices, salt and pepper and stir well to achieve even consistency.

Extras that will make this yummy (I'm not doing any today but you can):

• crumbled bacon
• 1/2 c heavy cream stirred in
• pureed chipotle peppers (just a leetle!) stirred in a swirl on each serving
• sizzled sage
• a nice hard cheese

Enjoy the autumn ... bring on the cozy foods!