Cheese, bacon, leek and pumpkin soup

Serves 8-12

This recipe celebrates the pumpkin in its beautifully whole form – bring it out and serve with the lid on top, candles flickering. Pull off the lid for the big reveal and watch your guests’ faces light up at the spectacle – a proper autumnal feast. — 1 whole pumpkin,

to fit into an oven

— 8 carrots, peeled and

roughly chopped

— 2 leeks, finely chopped — 110g Quicke’s slightly

salted whey butter — 400g bacon, chopped

into lardons

— 200ml double cream

— 3 stalks each of rosemary

and thyme, tied together — 200g grated cheese Preheat the oven to 220C/ 200C fan/gas mark 7.

Begin by deseeding the pumpkin, just as you would when carving a lantern for Hallowe’en. Slice the top off horizontally to make a lid, and then scrape out the seeds and strands in the middle, leaving a good edge of pumpkin flesh inside.

Next, in a large saucepan, sweat the chopped vegetables all together in the butter until soft, then add the bacon and continue over the heat, stirring, until the meat is cooked.

Mix in the cream, rosemary, thyme and plenty of seasoning, and warm gently.

Pour the soup into the hollow pumpkin and stir in most of the grated cheese.

Pop the lid back on and cook for a good two hours. If you want it extra cheesy, bring it out about 15 minutes before the end and add more grated cheese on top, so that you get a delicious gooey cheesy layer on the first bite.

Serve the soup, discarding the herbs, from the pumpkin, adding scoops of the cooked pumpkin flesh if you like, with fresh crusty bread.