peel and dice the pumpkin into about 2cm chunks. you should end up with about 1.25 to 1.5kg of diced pumpkin

wash and slice the leek

peel and dice the potatoes into similar size chunks as the pumpkin

peel the 3 cloves of garlic but leave them whole.

in a large pot or saucepan add the vegetable stock. you can either use ready made stock or 1.5lt of boiling water with the appropriate quantity of stock cubes.

add the pumpkin, potato, leek, salt, pepper and garlic into the pot with the stock and allow to simmer until all ingredients cooked through and soft. remember to keep stirring every 5 minutes or so.

while the vegetables are cooking, finely chopped the chives and add half into the pan with the vegetables to allow to cook with them. keep the other half for garnish.

once the vegetables are cooked use either a stick blender to blend into a liquid or use a blender then transfer back into the pot.

turn the heat down to low and stir in the cooking cream until mixed through.

ready to serve. you can use prewarmed bowls if you like and garnish each serving with a little of the remaining chives. always nice to serve with some toasted bread chunks.