Ingredients :

• 3 pumpkins

• 1 onion , diced

• 2 carrots , sliced thinly

• 1 / 2 celery , thinly sliced

• 3 garlic cloves , crushed

• 750ml veg stock

Aromatics :

• 25g sage

• 25g thyme

• 15g rosemary

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 5 bay leaves

For the pear garnish :

• 2 pears

• 1 clove star anise

• Oil

• Salt

For the cheese straws

• Puff pastry

• 2 egg yolks

• 5g grainy mustard

• 150g Ashmore cheese ( or vegetarian hard cheese ), grated

Method :

1 . Add aromatic ingredients into a muslin ready to add to the soup .

2 . Bake three pumpkins at 180 º C for 15 minutes until the skin gets soft .

3 . Then peel , core and dice your pumpkin ready to be added into the soup .

4 . Gently sweat down the remaining veggies ( onion , carrot , celery , garlic ) until soft .

5 . Once the veg is soft , add your pumpkin , cover with water , add 750ml veg stock and let it roll over for around 40 minutes with all of your aromatics in . Once all veggies are soft , take out aromatics and blitz the soup until it has a nice smooth silky consistency .

6 . Add a touch of cream to serve .

For the pear garnish : 7 . Peel and finely dice two pears .

8 . Sweat off in a pan with 1 clove of star anise , oil and salt .

9 . Allow to cool .

For the cheese straws : 10 . Roll out a puff pastry sheet to around 25cm x 25cm .

11 . Brush your puff pastry sheets with your egg wash .

12 . Cover your puff pastry with the grated cheese then slice long thin strips around 4cm long .

13 . Grab a straw from both sides and start twisting .

14 . Cook at 150 º C with a low fan setting for 23-25 minutes or until the cheese is nicely browned .

To serve : 15 . Put your pear garnish in the middle of your bowl , pour soup round the outside of the pear so that you have a little mountain in the middle then place your baked cheese straw across your bowl .