ROASTED PUMPKIN SOUP

Ingredients

1 (approx. 5 lb) medium-sized Cinderella pumpkin, cut in half and seeds removed
2 cups of white chicken or vegetable stock
Crême Fraiche
A few cloves of garlic
1 shallot
2 pieces of smoky bacon
2 thin rounds of French baguette, day old
Fresh sage
Salt
White pepper
Tabasco Sauce
Olive oil

Instructions

1. Rub the cut halves of the pumpkin with salt, crushed sage, olive oil, and white pepper. Roast skin side up (flesh side down) in an oven at 350° F until flesh is tender and the pumpkin is collapsing—probably 60 to 90 minutes.
2. Let pumpkin cool, skin side up until close to room temperature, then use a large spoon to scoop out the soft flesh from the harder skin.
3. Heat a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat to sweat the finely minced shallot in olive oil. Add the pumpkin and let warm until it begins to caramelize very lightly.
4. Keep moving, mashing the pumpkin. Add stock and let cook and reduce for about 40 minutes to an hour. (The liquid should reduce by half.)
5. Cool the pumpkin and stock and purée in a blender until smooth, adding salt and Tabasco to taste as well as a few tablespoons of Crême Fraiche to make the texture smoother and to add some acid balance. Pulse the blender a few times first before running at full speed.
6. Return to pan to reheat if needed.
7. As a garnish: Cut bacon into very small pieces and cook over low-medium heat until crispy. Add dice of day old baguette and cook with bacon and fat until golden brown. Remove bacon and bread crouton from pan.
8. Serve the soup in a bowl and garnish with the bacon and the croutons.