Farmer's Market Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Just came from the farmer's market with a pumpkin? Let's make soup! You can use Kabocha, Winter Luxury, Acorn or Butternut squash, Cinderella, Long Island Wheel of Cheese, Hubbard or just a regular old orange pumpkin the farmer said you could cook with, No matter the type - grab a red onion, carrots, a sweet potato, some chicken broth and spices of your choosing and let's make some soul food. Winter squash - and the kind we refer to as pumpkins specifically - are super healthy (tons of antioxidants and fiber) and to coax their inherent sweetness, roasting is best. If your pumpkin has thick skin (Kabocha, Hubbard, Winter Luxury, regular orange pumpkin) you'll just use a spoon to scoop the flesh right off the roasted quarter. If you are using Butternut, Acorn, Cindarella or LI Wheel of Cheese, you can leave the skins on. They will blend right into the soup providing extra fiber. I play around with spices. Sometimes I use fresh ginger, sometimes ground ginger with nutmeg. Sometimes I use pumpkin pie spice. Whatever you're in the mood for is fine. Make it your own. Just be careful not to over spice it. You want to taste the pure pumpkin goodness your farmer woke up at 4 am for months to grow for you. Let's get started!

1 medium pumpkin or 2 halves of different medium pumpkins to add depth of flavor. I love Winter Luxury and Kabocha but use what is available.

1 large sweet potato, scrubbed, leave skin on, cut in half

4 large carrots, scrubbed, leave skin on, ends removed, cut into thirds

1 large red onion, rough chopped

2 -3 32 oz boxes low sodium chicken broth

salt, pepper, olive oil

spices of your choice - listed above

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a large cookie sheet covered in tin foil, place your quartered and de seeded pumpkin and halved sweet potato. Drizzle with olive oil and salt. Bake until soft, about 30 to 45 minutes. In a large soup pot, saute your diced red onion in olive oil until browned. Turn heat down to low and add your spices to warm and blossom in about a tablespoon of oil for 1 minute. Add carrots and chicken broth. Turn heat up to high and add your roasted pumpkin flesh (use a spoon to scoop flesh away from the skin if using a thick skinned pumpkin) and sweet potato. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off heat and blend with an immersion blender. Taste, adjust seasonings, add more chicken broth if necessary to achieve desired thickness and serve with a garnish of the reserved roasted seeds. Enjoy!