Vegan Creamy Curried Pumpkin Soup

For the soup:

• 4 cups of pumpkin puree (3 cans) or 2 sugar pumpkins/butternut squash for roasting
• olive oil, salt and red pepper flakes for roasting
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp yellow curry powder
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 Tbsp honey
• salt and pepper to taste
• sage leaves quick fried in oil and good olive oil for garnish

For Cashew Cream:

• 1 cup raw cashews (raw cashews are important because they're more soft than the roasted variety)
• 1 cup water

First prepare cashews for cashew cream: In small bowl combine cashews and water.  Set aside.  Allow to soak for at least 1 hour.

Place rack in center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly drizzle two baking sheets with olive oil.  Set aside.

Slice pumpkins in half.  Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and strings. Seeds can be rinsed and saved for roasting. Discard guts and strings.

Place pumpkins scraped flesh face up.  Drizzle each half with olive oil, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes. Place in oven and allow to roast until soft and a fork inserted through flesh meets no resistance, about 30-40 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to rest until cool enough to handle. Once cool enough to handle, scoop soft pumpkin flesh out of pumpkin skin, measuring 4 cups into a medium bowl. Set side.

In large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions and cook until browned and translucent, about 7 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for one minute more.  Add curry powder and cook for one minute more.  Add 4 cups of pumpkin flesh and stir until incorporated.  Add vegetable broth and stir to combine. Bring soup to boil and simmer 20 minutes. Add honey. Remove from heat and use an immersion blender to blend the soup until creamy.  (If you don't have an immersion blender, you can add the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. This can be done in several batches.)

Lastly make cashew cream. In blender combine cashews and soaking water.  Blend until smooth, about 1 minute.  Add cashew cream to the blended pumpkin soup.  Stir to combine.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve warm with a drizzle of olive oil and fried sage leaves.