Spiced roasted vegetable soup

This is another of my monday night soups. Don't worry, it does not require the peeling the amount of pumpkins pictured above. It was a real success, I thought, definitely to be part of my autumn/winter repertoire. I ripped the the recipe out of one of my regular reads, Easy Living. Now who's to say all those glossies aren't worth the money?

Spiced roasted vegetable soup (makes two large bowls)

- 800 pumpkin, peeled and seeded
- 2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled
- 1 large carrot, peeled
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 0.5 teaspoons each of ground cumin, coriander and turmeric
- 0.75l vegetable stock
- lemon juice
- salt and pepper
- sour cream to serve (optional)

- cut all the vegetables (except for the garlice, leave it whole) into large chunks
- in a bowl, mix with the spices and the olive oil
- place on a large baking tray and roast in a preheated oven (200°) for about 40 minutes, stirring once or twice
- when the vegetables are soft and lightly browned, remove from the oven and let cool slightly
- place in a food processor, add some of the stock and blend thoroughly
- pour the purée in a pan, heat and season with lemon juice and salt and pepper
- laddle into big bowls and serve topped with some sour cream if you like.

The roasting really does the trick, the vegetables caramelize ever so slightly, giving to soup a faintly sweetish taste which makes for a gorgeous combination with the exotic spices. Blend the soup until very smooth, it will be irresistibly velvety.