Pumpkin and Cashew nut Soup

Thursday 7.40pm

There is a chill in the air telling me that although I cannot see it on this bright fresh day, winter is still here. Time for another creamy, comforting soup once again making good use of the warming fragrance of black pepper.

- An onion and a clove of garlic are set to cook slowly in some olive oil.
- About two ounces of roasted cashew nut are put into a small ziplock bag and bashed with a rolling pin to a lumpy flour. I used my youngest for this as it is the school holidays and he was looking bored. (he did the bashing that is, I didn’t use him as the rolling pin)
- Pop the nuts into a small amount of stock and left to soak.
- Meanwhile I have peeled a three or four inch piece of pumpkin and chopped it into chunks.
- Now the last time I made soup I burnt the onions when I added the pumpkin and upped the heat, so this time I scooped out the onions, put the pumpkin in, stirred it around a bit until blackened at the edges.
- The onions go back in along with a pint and a quarter of vegetable stock and the heat turned down to a simmer.
- Twenty minutes later all is cooked.
- Into the liquidiser go the cashews and their stock to whizz them a bit finer then the soup is added and blended together.
- Back into the cleaned saucepan it all goes with a little bit of salt and lots of black pepper to warm through.

This will be my lunch tomorrow at work, a small quiet oasis in what will probably be a hectic day.