Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Roasted Garlic and Black Pepper Crouton

In response to a request for Cauliflower recipes, here goes (again, they are from Alice Waters Chez Panisse Vegetable Cookbook): Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Split pumpkin and scrape out seeds and pith. Oil the cut surfaces with olive oil, season generously with salt and pepper. Place the halves cut side down on a baking sheet, with a sprig of thyme and 2 unpeeled cloves of garlic tucked underneath each seed cavity. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes or until completely tender. When it is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh or peel off the skins and add the pulp to a soup pot along with the roasted garlic, squeezed out of its skin. Mash them together, add the chicken stock and heat to a simmer. Taste and correct the seasoning. For a richer soup, add a little butter at this point. While the pumpkin is baking, make black pepper croutons. Cut the slices of bread into 1/2 inch cubes and toss them in the melted butter. Salt them, then spread on a baking sheet and roast until brown and crisp; generously grind black pepper over them as soon as you take them out of the oven. Serves 4 Posted to FOODWINE Digest 30 October 96 Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 16:39:16 -0800 From: Nancy Brandt <Nancy.Brandt@UCOP.EDU>