A Roasted Vegetable Soup to celebrate Matariki

Celebrate Matariki, the Maori harvest festival, with this mellow roast vegetable soup, made with kumara, pumpkin, and carrots. Invite the whanau over and enjoy steaming hot bowls of it with some garlic bread or some rawene.
Roasting the vegetables intensifies their flavour , The cream is optional but  enriches this soup and for a special occasion I wouldn't leave it out.
The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled depending on numbers.
It is similar to the root vegetable soup I posted last weekend but I think that roasting the vegetables has made a significant difference. And for a roasted vegetable soup I have used an onion rather than a leek.

Ingredients:

200 grams of peeled and cubed kumara
200 grams of peeled and cubed potato
200 grams of peeled and cubed carrot
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large onion , chopped
1 whole clove of garlic
900 ml of chicken/vegetable stock
100 ml of cream
Freshly ground salt and pepper to taste
Coriander/parsley to garnish

Method:

Heat the oven to 200 degrees C
Toss the vegetables and garlic together, then spread out in a single layer in a baking dish.
Bake for about 20 minutes until they are done.
Squeeze the garlic out of its skin.
Put the vegetables and garlic into a large saucepan and add the stock.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Swirl in the cream, do not let it boil again.
Use a stick mixture to make a smooth soup.
Season to taste with pepper and salt.
Serve in bowls with a garnish of chopped coriander leaves or parsley

Variations:

Add a teaspoon each of toasted and ground coriander and cumin
And/or the grated rind of half an orange

or once in bowls grate some cheese over the top