Dish type: Soup

Serves 6
Cooking and preparation time: 1 hour

Ingredients
½ a pumpkin – approx 1kg
1 white onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1.2 litres (2 pints) vegetable stock
150ml (¼ pint) double cream
salt and black pepper
100g (3½oz) good-quality chorizo
1 tbsp sherry vinegar

Method
1. Get out the biggest saucepan you have in the cupboard.
2. Peel and deseed the pumpkin, then chop it into chunks – about 2–3cm should be ok. Put them in the pan with the chopped onion, olive oil, cumin and garlic.
3. Set the pan on a medium heat – you want to get some colour on the pumpkin, so fry it for about 5–10 minutes.
4. Then add the vegetable stock and simmer for 40 minutes.
5. Blend the soup until smooth using a stick blender, then add the cream and taste for seasoning.
6. When you are ready to serve the soup, heat a small frying pan while you dice or slice the chorizo sausage. Cook it gently for a few minutes until the fat starts to melt, then stir in the sherry vinegar and remove from the heat.
7. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with some of the chorizo and the fat that has cooked out.