Pumpkin virgin! Daft question alert!

[TinyGang]

Decided to make some soup...
On all the recipes I've seen you cut the pumpkin into chunks. Well, Mine was mostly full of the gooey stuff the seeds are in. Do you use that bit too, or just peel it and use the hard bits only?
Btw have de-seeded the gooey stuff cos a mn posted an interesting idea about baking the seeds.

Hard skinless bits only.

Seeds go in microwave for 3 minutes on high and can then be used as play money, craft items etc.

Nooooo!
Eat the seeds.
Roll in a little bit of oil,toast them for 15 mins or so,add a bit of salt and voila!

I've bought a pumpkin the size of King Kong's head - I suppose I'd better find a soup recipe quick!

Thanks everyone! I feel a bit daft asking and the more I thought about it, I sort of worked it out really, cos I've used Butternut squash before.

Don't worry moondog - will be eating the seeds!

Has anybody got a recipe for pumpkin soup or something to do with pumpkin? The one my daughter grew was 3 stone before de-seeding!!!

Pumpkin Soup

1. Prepare your pumpkin.

De seed pumpkin and chop into chunks. It will need to be peeled. If your pumpkin is one of those that are really hard to peel you can get around this by either microwaving it in a bowl with a little water (for steam) and a tight lid for 5 minutes or so OR (better still) roasting with the skin on. This has the advantage of caramalisig it a bit and making it much sweeter. After cooking it will be much easier just to scrape the cooked flesh off the skin.

2. Soften some onions and garlic in a big pan with a little butter or olive oil.

3. Add the pumpkin and plenty of water and a stock cube (chicken works well).

4. Simmer for 20 minutes or so then blend with a hand blender. Adjust flavourings.

Variations.

I always use cumin seed and a little chilli in my soup, though put in little bits at a time till you get the flavour you want.

Nutmeg works really well.

Try some grated cheese or a spoonful of yoghurt placed on top of the soup when you serve it.

Pumkin and dahl soup (courtesy of Jamie Oliver) With the onions, fry some ginger, cumin, chilli and a little turmeric. Add 250g or so of red lentils to the soup and simmer till soft (about 20 mins) then blend as before. Be careful with this one, it can get really thick and almost porridge like, you may need to add more water. However, one bowl fills you up and it freezes nicely.

deseed and peel pumpkin, chop into pieces then cook in chicken stock with some chopped onion. When soft, puree (don't throw out the liquid)and just before serving, swirl in a little cream.

If you have a big pumpkin - scoop it out and then put the soup back into shell ready for serving. Make the shell at least an inch thick.