Ballymaloe spiced pumpkin soup

When we saw Darina Allen at the Abergavenny Food Festival she cooked this with coconut milk and Thai green spice paste, omitting the tomatoes

900g (2 lb) peeled and seeded pumpkin or winter squash, cut into cubes
175g (6oz) onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
25g (1oz) butter
450g (l lb) very ripe tomatoes or 1 x 14oz (400g) tinned tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 sprig thyme
1.2 litres (2 pints) homemade chicken stock
salt, freshly ground pepper and nutmeg

Spice
40g (1 1/2 ozs) butter
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon white mustard seeds
2 inch (5cm) piece of cinnamon stick

Put the cubes of squash into a pan with the onion, garlic, butter and thyme. Cover and sweat over a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add the chopped tomatoes, (add 1/2-1 teaspoon sugar if using tinned tomatoes), puree and cook until they have dissolved to a thick sauce. Stir in the stock, salt, freshly ground pepper and a little freshly ground nutmeg and simmer until the squash is very tender. Discard the thyme stalk, then liquidise the soup in several batches and return to the pan. You may need to add a little more stock or milk if the soup is too thick for you liking. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Just before serving, gently reheat the soup and pour into a warm serving bowl. Heat the coriander, cumin and pepper, and crush coarsely. Melt the butter and, when foaming add the crushed spices, mustard seeds and cinnamon. Stir for a few seconds until the mustard seeds start to pop. Quickly pour over the soup and serve, mixing in the spice butter as you ladle it out, having removed the cinnamon stick.

Pumpkins vary in intensity of flavour; some are much stronger than others so you may need to add some extra stock or milk. I sometimes add a can of coconut milk with delicious results.