This is great for an everyday soup, or you can serve it in it shell at a Halloween party – slice off a ‘lid’ from the top of 1 large pumpkin, then carefully scoop out the flesh with a tablespoon, leaving a 2 inch thick ‘shell’, if you want to serve the soup in it. It looks great and adds a lovely fresh fragrance to the soup. The pumpkin oil really makes a difference too.

40g butter

2kg ripe pumpkin, peeled and chopped in inch cubes

1 dspn cumin seeds, dry fried and pounded to a powder in a pestle and mortar

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1 or more red chillies deseeded and cut into ribbons (according to taste)

1 tsp caster sugar

1 litre good chicken stock or Vegetable Nage or Stock, hot

4 tbsps double cream

200g freshly grated parmesan

Pumpkin seed oil for drizzling

• Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, and cook until soft and transparent and reduce the heat

• Add ground cumin powder, chilli and sugar, hot stock and pumpkin. Stir well.

• Bring to a gentle boil, and cook until the pumpkin is soft- about 25 minutes.

• Whizz in a blender, season, and add the cream and parmesan. Return to the heat and bring to a gentle simmer

• Pour into the pumpkin shell or a tureen or serving bowls; drizzle with a little pumpkinseed oil, and serve with lovely bread