Hamming Around

Smoky Ham, Sage, Ginger and Pumpkin Soup


Just a quick one today.
This is one of my favourite soups ever, especially for Autumn. Something about pumpkins, maybe its the colour, is quintessentially Autumn for me. My Mum used to make Ginger and Pumpkin Soup when we where kids and its true those two flavours marry so well together, also no one can deny the combination of Sage and Pumpkin, so these four ingredients in the one pot, HEAVEN!

Ingredients
2kg Pumpkin, chopped into rough 1cm thick chunks (I generally use Jap or Butternut pumpkin)
2T Olive Oil
1 Large Brown Onion, rough dice
1 inch of Fresh Ginger, finely diced (or 2T pre-minced)
7g Fresh Sage
1 Large Ham hock
3 Bay Leaves
Water

Method
Using large soup pot heat up Olive Oil, add Brown Onion, fry until lightly brown.
Add in Ginger and Sage, fry until fragrant.
Add Pumpkin, Ham Hock and Bay Leaves, almost cover with water and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer with no lid so that it reduces at the same time as the pumpkin cooks.
Cook for approx 2 hours (I like to cook Ham Hocks for as long as possible) if the liquid reduces too much you can always top up with a little more water or replace the lid.
Half an hour before serving, remove the Ham Hock and allow to cool to a manageable temperature, remove the edible meat from the bone, add the meat back to the pot and discard the bone. (I find if the Ham Hock has been left whole by the butcher it is less likely to 'lose' bones in the soup which can ruin the consistency after blending)
Blend soup, bring back to serving temperature, check the seasoning, the Ham Hock is often salty enough to not require further seasoning, and serve.

You can serve with crusty bread, sour cream, finely chopped parsley, anything, but to be honest I like it plain.
P.S. I really did mean to show a picture of the finished product, but I keep eating it before I remember, I hope the empty (scrapped clean) bowl will suffice.