Roast Pumpkin Soup

What's more autumnal than pumpkins? Whether you're carving them, popping them on your porch as decorations, or lighting a pumpkin spice scented candle, there's something about these gorgeous gourds  that brings together all the smells, colours, and warmth of the season.

We are surrounded by amazing farms, and so spent the weekend apple and pumkin picking. We chose two small pumpkins - sugar pie variety- to bring home and cook up. There are so many options when it comes to pumpkin based foods, but I went for the perfect comfort food- a pumpkin soup- served with fresh crusty sourdough. Heaven! This recipe is pretty easy to whip up, taking around 40-50 minutes in total. It's gluten free, oil free, vegan, low fat, and full of vitamins A,  C, B2, B12 (from the nutritional yeast),  and E, fiber, and antioxidants!

Ingredients
1 small - medium squash, roasted
4 cloves garlic, roasted
2 cups broth- either vegetable or mushroom work best here
1/8 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1/8 tsp ginger (optional)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
a little horseradish (optional- to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Preheat the oven to 360°F/ 180°C
Wash, carve, and deseed your squash. I like to rinse my seeds and put them to one side to either plant or roast later.
Add the pumpkin, and garlic (I roast a whole bulb at a time so I can use the cloves in recipes throughout the week) on a lined baking pan.  You can roast the veggies 1-2 days in advance to prep for a quick dinner. Just remember to reheat in the microwave, or use your blender's soup setting otherwise your soup will be cold!
Cook for 25-40 minutes, until the garlic and pumpkin are both soft.
Add all the ingredients (even those pumpkin skins!)to a blender/ food processer and blend until smooth.
Serve immediately topped with croutons, everything but the bagel seasoning, or a sprinkle of nigella seeds.