Nothing But Onions

1 medium pumpkin
One bulb garlic garlic
1 red chilli, chopped
2 Onions, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
3 pints water
Olive oil
Salt

Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the stringy flesh and seeds. Wash the seeds under a cold running tap to separate them from the flesh and put to one side.

Chop the pumpkin into largeish pieces (about 2 inch cube). There's no need to peel it. Put the pieces into a bowl. Break up the bulb of garlic into cloves. Put three cloves of garlic to one side, and put the others (in their skins) into the bowl with the pumpkin. Drizzle over some olive oil and mix it all up so that everything is evenly coated. Put the pumpkin & garlic into a roasting tin and cook in the oven (180C) for about 45 minutes or so. When done, the pumpkin should be soft and starting to turn brown on the edges. Take out of the oven and leave to cool slightly.

Take the three reserved garlic cloves, peel them and chop them finely. Cook the onions, celery, chopped garlic and chilli gently in some olive oil in a large saucepan for ten minutes or so until soft.

Take the roasted pumpkin, and scrape the flesh off the skins with a spoon and put in the pan with the onion mixture. Take the roasted garlic cloves and squeeze the garlic out of the skins into the pan with the onions and pumpkin.

Add the water to the pan (you may need more or less, depending on how big your pumpkin was). Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and leave bubbling gently away for half an hour or so.

Whizz through a blender to turn it into a thick puree and add salt to taste.

Take the pumpkin seeds and toss them in some olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Spread them on a baking tray and cook in the oven (180C) for fifteen minutes or so. Garnish the soup with them, or just snack on them with a gin and tonic...