Roasted Pumpkin and Carrot Soup

There's pumpkin soup and then there's this roasted pumpkin soup. The roasting makes the pumpkin and carrot so sweet resulting in a luscious cold-weather soup.

Ingredients
2 small sugar pumpkin, seeded 
extra virgin olive oil 
sea salt 
1 small yellow onion, diced 
3-4 carrots, diced 
grated zest of 1 lemon 
1 tablespoon mirin or white wine 
2 cups spring or filtered water 
1 cup plain soymilk 
2 teaspoons sweet white miso 
2-3 tablespoons pan toasted pumpkin seeds, for garnish 

Directions 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously rub the outside skin of the sugar pumpkin with oil and place, cut side down in a shallow baking pan. Sprinkle lightly with salt and add water to the baking dish to accumulate about 1/8-inch. Cover loosely with foil and bake until the squash is tender, about 40 minutes (time may vary depending on the size of the pumpkin). Remove from oven and set aside to cool. 

Place about 2 tablespoons oil and onion in a small soup pot and turn heat to medium-high. When the onions begin to sizzle, add a pinch of salt and saute for 2 minutes. Stir in carrots, a pinch of salt, lemon zest and mirin. Saute for 1-2 minutes. Scoop the flesh of the pumpkin out of the skins and add to the vegetables in the soup pot. Add water, soymilk, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook soup until the carrots are quite soft, about 25 minutes.