I do love a good soup and pumpkin soup is always lovely, however as a single ingredient soup it can sometimes be a bit pedestrian. Roasting the pumpkin with shallots and garlic is a wonderful way to boost the flavour and accentuate the pumpkins sweetness.

I always use butternut pumpkin for making pumpkin soup, but any good pumpkin will do.

I chopped up one whole butternut pumpkin, three shallots and six garlic cloves (I love roasted garlic). In a baking pan I tossed them in olive oil and seasoned with pepper and salt.

After roasting in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, the pumpkin, shallots and garlic were nicely caramelised.

I added the roasted vegetables to 1 litre of chicken stock and 1/2 litre of water in a pot and brought it to the boil.

When cooled, blended with a stick mixer. Though if you have a blender, let it cool completely.

I threw in a handful of chopped parsley and served with sliced spring onions. It would also be nice with a dollop of greek yoghurt or sour cream. Making soup is ridiculously easy, but by adding the extra step of roasting the pumpkin beforehand, it enhanced the flavour and added complexity.