Roast Pumpkin and Tomato Soup with Pesto

The perfect winter warmer........who doesn't love pumpkin soup?  Well here is one with a bit of a twist! Roasted pumpkin and garlic blended with rich tomatoes and topped with homemade pesto, delicioso!!

You will need:

Serves 6 and any leftovers are suitable to freeze

Oil for baking and frying
!/2 a small butternut pumpkin
1/2 a small Jap pumpkin
1/2 a small grey pumpkin
1 large bulb of garlic
2 brown onions
1 700g bottle of italian tomato sugo
1 litre of chicken stock
300ml of cream
1tsp of dried oregano
2tbs of honey
Salt and pepper

For the pesto:

1 bunch of fresh basil
2 large clove of garlic
1/2 cup of grated parmesan
2/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

To make the soup, preheat the oven to 180 degress and peel and cut pumpkin into roasting sized pieces.  Cut the bulb of garlic in half cross ways and place the ingredients in a large roasting pan and toss with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Bake in the oven for 1/2 an hour or until the pumpkin is tender.  While the pumpkin is baking, dice the two onions and fry until soft in a large soup pot with the dried oregano.  When the pumpkin is ready add it to the onion. Hold the top of each half of the garlic bulbs and gently squeeze the skin of the garlic so the flesh falls directly into the pot and the garlic will come out all pasty and golden.  Add the chicken stock and tomatoes (or veg stock if you want to make it completely vegetarian) season with salt and pepper and allow to simmer for about 1/2 an hour until all the ingredients are tender.  When the soup is cooked use a hand blender (less messy) or a normal blender to process the soup until thick and smooth.  Bring the soup back to a simmer and add 250ml of the cream and all of the honey, stir to combine.

To make the pesto:

Place the basil, garlic, parmesan, and a small amount of the oil in a food processor.  Season with salt and pepper and put the processor on medium while adding the remainder of the oil.

Ladle the soup into large serving bowls.  Drizzle a little of the remaining cream into the bowls and gently top with a tablespoon of the pesto (a good trick for pouring the cream is to let it run over the back of a spoon, that way it won't all sink to the bottom!).  Serve with crusty warm ciabatta bread and of course a nice glass of red.....or two!!

Ps To get the right consistency for a nice thick soup the stock should only just cover the pumpkin.  You can always add more after it is blended....