Roasted pumpkin soup with chickpeas

As mentioned left, roasted pumpkin delivers on flavour. Yes, it is an extra step, and one I aim to plan ahead by roasting the pumpkin pieces while I have the oven on for dinner the night before or when baking bread. The resulting sweetening and caramelising of the pumpkin really is worth the effort. The other benefit of roasting the pumpkin is that the skin comes off easily once cooked, with the rest of the soup coming together in no time. The chickpea topping is the cherry on top here, bringing extra boldness in flavour and texture to the soup.

Garam masala is an Indian spice blend, it is more complex than curry powder with sweet flavoured spices to complement the pumpkin. Mild curry powder can be substituted if that is all you have on hand.

Preparation time: 25 minutes Cook time: 50 minutes Serves 4

■ About 1kg pumpkin or squash

■ 2 tbsp olive oil

■ 11⁄ tsp garam masala (or 1 tsp mild 2 curry powder and 1⁄ tsp mixed spice) 2

■ 1⁄ tsp salt 2

■ About 3 cups (750ml) vegetable or chicken stock

■ Cracked pepper

■ About 80g feta, crumbled

Sizzled chickpeas

■ 2 tbsp olive oil

■ 1⁄ red onion, diced 2

■ 400g can chickpeas (or 11⁄ cups 2 cooked), drained

■ Pinch of salt

■ Pinch of chilli flakes

■ 1⁄ tsp garam masala or mild curry 2 powder

Chop the pumpkin into similar sized wedges or chunks, roughly 7-8cm wide. Place on a roasting tray and drizzle generously with olive oil. Add the garam masala and salt and toss to combine, using your fingers to evenly coat with the oil and spice. A thin coating of oil results in more caramelising, which equals flavour. Roast for 30-40 minutes until the pumpkin is tender throughout when pierced with a knife.

Cool enough to handle, then use a small knife to remove the skin, placing the pumpkin flesh into a saucepan. Add the stock to the pan and heat gently. Once warm, remove from the heat and blend with a stick blender until smooth, adding extra stock if needed to reach the consistency you like. Gently heat the soup while preparing the chickpeas.

Heat a frying pan over a moderate to high heat. Add the oil and red onion and cook until the onions are sticky and caramelised, about 8-10 minutes. Add the chickpeas, salt and spices and continue to cook, tossing regularly until the chickpeas are golden and ‘‘sizzled’’. Tip into a bowl.

Check the flavour of the soup adding extra salt and cracked pepper as needed. Ladle into bowls and top each with 2-3 tbsp sizzled chickpeas. Scatter with crumbled feta and a drizzle of olive oil, and serve.