Spicy Sweet Potato Soup

Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas mark 6.

With a mortar or spice grinder, grind coriander, cumin, oregano, fennel, chillies, salt and peppercorns into a coarse powder. Blend in garlic and 1 tablespoon olive oil to form a paste.

Wash pumpkin, and cut into wedges, scraping away seeds. Peel potatoes and cut each potato lengthwise into wedges. Smear the pumpkin and the potatoes with the spice paste and place in a baking dish.

Roast in preheated oven 30 to 40 minutes, until tender and just beginning to blacken at the thinnest points.

Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat, cook the onion in the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil until translucent.

Chop pumpkin and potatoes into smaller chunks and purée in a blender or food processor with some of the chicken stock until smooth. Be sure to scrape the roasted spice paste off the baking dish and include it in the purée. It may be necessary to deglaze the dish with a little chicken stock.

Pour the puréed vegetables into the pot with the onions, and stir in as much additional chicken stock as needed to achieve the desired consistency. Heat through.