Pumpkin soup with ginger, coconut milk and piment d'Espelette.

Lay the piece of pumpkin flat on the board. Scoop out the seeds and strings with a spoon, then cut away the skin with a knife, following the curve, as you would peel a melon. Cut the flesh into cubes of about 2 cm (cubes of the same size cook at the same pace) and weigh out 400 g.

Peel the shallot and slice it finely. Scrape the skin off the ginger with the edge of a teaspoon (it follows the knobbly bits and wastes almost nothing), then grate it on a fine grater. Set aside half a teaspoon of this pulp for the end of cooking.

Heat the olive oil over a medium heat in a small heavy-based pan. Add the shallot and the grated ginger and let them sweat for 3 minutes, stirring: the shallot should turn translucent without browning. Ginger that colours turns bitter, so lower the heat at the slightest doubt.

Add the pumpkin cubes, salt lightly and stir for 2 minutes to coat them well. Pour in the hot stock: it should come just level with the cubes, so top up with a little water if it falls short. Bring to the boil, cover, then leave to simmer for 20 minutes over a low heat. The pumpkin is cooked when a cube crushes effortlessly against the side of the pan under the back of a spoon.

Meanwhile, toast the seeds. Put them in a dry frying pan over a medium heat and shake the pan regularly for 3 to 4 minutes. They swell, turn golden and start to crackle: tip them straight onto a plate, because they go from golden to burnt very quickly. Salt them and dust them with a pinch of piment d'Espelette while they're still hot.

Open the tin of coconut milk without shaking it. First take 2 teaspoons of the thick cream that has risen to the top and set them aside for the garnish (if nothing has separated, use the milk as it is, the garnish will just be runnier). Then whisk the rest with a fork until smooth, and measure out 10 cl.

Off the heat, blend the soup with a stick blender for 1 to 2 minutes, the head well submerged and the pan tilted, until smooth and glossy. In a jug blender, fill it only halfway, remove the centre cap of the lid and cover the opening with a folded tea towel: the steam needs a way out. For a truly silky result, then push the soup through a fine sieve with the back of a ladle, and the ginger fibres will stay behind.

Return the soup to a low heat. Pour in the 10 cl of coconut milk, the quarter teaspoon of piment d'Espelette and the juice of the ginger you set aside (squeeze the pulp between your fingers over the pan: the juice goes through, the fibres stay in your hand), then heat for 2 minutes, stirring, without letting it boil. Taste, adjust the salt and add the lime juice if you like a little zing. The soup should coat the back of a spoon. If it's too thick, loosen it with hot water, 2 cl at a time. If it's too thin, let it reduce for 3 or 4 minutes uncovered, at a gentle simmer.

Pour the soup into two warm bowls (run under very hot water, then wiped dry). Place a teaspoon of coconut cream in the centre of each bowl, then drag it towards the edge with the tip of a knife, in five or six strokes: you get a little white star, or a spider, depending on your hand. Scatter with toasted seeds and a last pinch of piment d'Espelette, and serve at once.