Pumpkin Soup

This soup was made at Community Kitchens on 5th August. One of our participants rated this soup 20 out of 10. You cant ask better than that. The croutons are worthwhile making too, the recipe is below and they are much more fun than toast.
Knob of butter and 1 tbsp olive oil
1kg butternut (squash) pumpkin, or jap or kent varieties.
3 potatoes chopped
1 onion diced
2 stock cubes (vegetable or chicken)
1.5 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated or minced well
1 litre of water
Salt and Pepper to taste
Handful of fresh coriander leaves to serve (optional)
.... or fresh parsley chopped finely to serve
dollop of cream to serve (optional)
sprinkle of nutmeg to serve
chunky homemade parmesan croutons

Peel the pumpkin with a potato peeler or small knife. Chop into 2cm cubes. Chop the potatoes into similar cubes, it's up to you whether you peel them first or not. Peel & chop the onion. Melt the butter with the oil in a large pan. Then fry it gently in the pan, with the lid on, until it starts to soften. Check and stir to make sure it doesn't brown. Add the potatoes to the onions and stir to coat well with the oil. Add the pumpkin. Stir well. Cover and cook for 10 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally. When the potato has started to soften add the water to the pan crumble the stock cube into the water. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil, simmer gently until all the vegetables are soft - about 15 minutes. You might need to add more water. Add just enough to cover the vegetables, or the soup will be too runny. Use a stick blender to liquidise the soup or mash it very well then strain through a mesh sieve (retaining the liquid), push the solids through the sieve with the back of a spoon, stir, then serve. When serving place a dollop of cream in the centre of each bowl, sprinkle with nutmeg. Garnish each bowl with chunky homemade croutons and a pinch of fresh coriander or parsley.

To make chunky homemade croutons, cut an old unsliced loaf of bread into inch thick slices and cut again into cubes an inch wide and deep. Put the bread into a baking dish and drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with some dry grated parmesan cheese. Bake croutons at 200deg Celsius for 10 mins stirring once during that time. Serve on top of homemade soup.