Gourmet pumpkin soup

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 1 pumpkin(s) (Hokkaido), approx. 600-800 g pumpkin flesh
• 5 carrots
• 2 small onions
• 1 large potato(s)
• 1 piece(s) of ginger root, approx. 2 x 2 cm or 2 tbsp ginger powder
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 800 ml vegetable stock
• 500 ml coconut milk
• 100 ml cream
• 3 tbsp white wine, not essential
• 100 ml orange juice
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 clove(s) garlic, not essential
• 200 g ham, diced
• 4 slice(s) toast, white bread or other light bread
• Sherry, not essential
• Salt
• Pepper, white
• chili powder
• Cayenne pepper
• curry powder
• turmeric

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 45 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours

Peel and dice the pumpkin, carrots, onion, potatoes, and ginger, if desired. Sauté the cubes in olive oil in a large pot for about 5 minutes. When it starts to brown slightly in spots, add the stock and simmer for 30 minutes until soft. In the meantime, make the croutons. Cut the bread into approximately 1 cm cubes and mince the garlic. Fry the ham cubes in a pan without oil until lightly crispy. Add the garlic and bread cubes. Fry everything until lightly browned, then pour onto kitchen paper to drain. Purée the soup; if you like, you can make it a little coarser. Add the coconut milk, cream, white wine, and orange juice. Simmer gently over low heat for about 10 minutes. Add the spices (I use a large teaspoon of each) and the honey. Carefully add salt; the ham in the croutons is also salty. Now the soup needs about another hour on the stove at a low heat, then add a splash of sherry. If the pumpkin soup is too thick, add more cream, coconut milk, or regular milk to taste. If it’s too thin, a little thickener will help. Serve the soup with the croutons.