#1,151: Roasted Pumpkin Coconut Soup

I know this is a terrible picture, but this is the ONLY picture my camera would take!  I think the batteries must be dying, but no matter how many times I tried to retake this photo, it wouldn't let me.  Grrr. 

I had a fresh pumpkin and some carrots that were pushing the limit on still being edible, so I decided I needed to quickly whip up some sort of pumpkin/carrot soup.  I found this recipe which was not only easy, but I didn't have to buy any additional ingredients for it.  As I've stated before, I don't like smooth soups, mine needs to have some sort of texture, so I added some crumbled bacon to it and it was MUCH better.  I enjoyed this recipe.  I actually ate it for breakfast.  :)

1 small pie pumpkin (about 4 cups of cooked pumpkin)
1 tbsp of ghee or grass fed butter
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped roughly
1 small bartlett pear, peeled, cored, and chopped
4 cups of chicken stock
1 can of coconut milk
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and stringy pulp.  Coat the inner surfaces of your pumpkin with your ghee or butter. Place your pumpkin shell side down in your baking pan with 1/2 cup water and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. You are looking for the pumpkin to pull away from the shell.  Allow your pumpkin to cool and then use a large fork to pull it from its shell, place it in a large bowl and mash it.  (**Mine was stringy for some reason so I just threw it in the crockpot to continue cooking).

Add 4 cups of mashed pumpkin to your slow cooker, along with the rest of your ingredients. Cook on low heat for 5 to 6 hours.  Use your immersion blender to puree your soup as desired.

Optional: garnish with pumpkin seeds (pepitas) or crumbled bacon.