Pumpkin Soup

I normally try and grow a few pumpkins on the allotment for Halloween, and any spares can be made into soup for Guy Fawkes, and frozen for the rest of the winter. This year I was able to use the stock from boiling up a gammon (sometimes it's too salty) -I generally make this with apple juice as well as water and it made a good soup great.

Recipe :
1.5 lbs (675g) pumpkin flesh
2 large onions
8oz carrots
1 can chopped tomatoes
juice of a lemon
4oz red lentils
3.5 pints stock
pepper, nutmeg and salt to taste
0.5 pint milk (optional)

chop and fry the onions and carrots until the onions are soft, add the rest of the ingredients (except the milk), bring to the boil and then turn down the heat, put the lid on the pan and simmer for half an hour or so until the veg and lentils are soft. I then blend it using in the pan using one of those wand blenders. If you are planning to eat the soup straight away then you can add the milk now (if wanted, it makes the sooup taste smoother) and reheat, otherwise you can leave it until you are ready to eat it -a dash in a microwaved mug full works just as well.