Pumpkin-Chipotle Soup with Maple Crème Fraîche, Bacon, and Sage

Preheat the oven to 375. Peel the pumpkin (I used kubocha, a Japanese pumpkin, because I couldn't find a regular one) and cut into 1" chunks. Put on a cookie sheet with a bit of oil, salt, and pepper, and roast until fork tender.

Once the pumpkin is almost done, saute some onion and garlic in butter until soft. Add black pepper and chipotle powder to taste, mix around, then add the squash pieces. Stir everything together and add enough water to make it easy to puree. Put the whole thing in a blender (let it cool a bit first!) and puree smooth. Rinse out the old pot, then put the puree back in. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer. At this point you need to add more liquid to get it to the right consistency - use anything from skim milk up through whipping cream, depending how rich you like it. I used some half and half and some skim milk. Mix well to combine, and salt to taste.

Fry some bacon - you want it crispy, not chewy, but also not burned. Crumble it up and mix with chiffonaded sage. Stir together creme fraiche and maple syrup (the real kind), to taste.

Sprinkle bacon and sage on top, and drizzle creme fraiche.