  Pumpkin Soup So you buy this pie pumpkin from the grocery store on a whim, right? You've been cooking squash (dead easy), so you should have the hang of this, but you're a little nervous about roasting up a pumpkin. Don't be. Super easy, even for a loser like you. Pre-heat oven to 425&deg;. Cut pumpkin into quarters and cut out/scoop out with hands most of the goop and all of the seeds.
Wrap each quarter of the 'kin with tin foil so that it folds over at the top, like a little sealed pouch. Before you do that, though, put a healthy pat of butter in the bowl of the quarter. You can also take a bit of any of the following and dust the surface of the flesh before sealing: lemon pepper, garlic powder, allspice, or cinnamon. Place the foil-wrapped quarters onto a cookie sheet, and slide into the super-hot oven. Set that timer for 45 minutes. When the timer goes off, carefully pry open one of the foil pouches and give the 'kin a good poke with a fork or spoon. The flesh of the squash should be fairly soft, and considerably darker than when it was raw. Ideally, you should be able to scoop out the flesh with a regular spoon without difficulty. If it's not done after 45, keep on re-admitting the pumpkin to the fiery depths of your stove in ten minute increments until it's done.
When you've achieved this, set the cookie sheet to cool for a few minutes, so you're not burning yourself with steaming hot lemon pepper butter mush. Scoop as much as you can from each rind into a largish bowl. Get out a potato masher, or, if you're a true loser, the biggest fork you can find. Mush that stuff as smooth as possible. If you're a faux loser, get out the stick blender and make that stuff a gorgeous orange puree.
Add enough chicken broth/water to make it a soupy consistency, and transfer this all to a pot where you'll have it on "Low. " Stir the goop as you slowly add stuff like: salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, allspice, cinnamon, sugar. Do this to taste: I made mine a bit savory, but that's because I can't make my brain understand sweet soups, really. Right before you're ready to serve/consume, add a small container of either half and half, or heavy whipping cream. Turn off heat, so you don't scald the cream, and serve. I got a bit jiggy wid it and added half of a green apple, diced into little tiny pieces. It gave the soup a tart sweetness to remind you of pie, but it was definitely a savory soup. Don't be afraid to add lots of seasonings - pumpkin can be pretty damn boring on its own.
It's only when you add all the flavorings that you start getting that recognizable pie thing going on. I put two cinnamon sticks into the pot so that they would soak up moisture and then continue to season the leftovers as they sit in the fridge. 
