Peel and finely dice the onion and garlic. Pumpkin clean, wash, halve, remove seeds. Cut pumpkin into pieces. Apple wash, clean, quarter and remove core. Thyme wash, shake dry.
Pluck leaves.
Heat the oil in a pot. Fry the onion for 3-4 minutes while turning. Add the pumpkin, garlic, apple and thyme, except for a little to garnish, and fry for about 2 minutes. Add stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes.
Puree the soup, add milk, bring to the boil again and simmer for about 6 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
In the meantime cut out stars of any size from the slices of bread. Place the bread stars on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Sprinkle cheese over it and bake in a preheated oven (electric cooker: 200 °C/ circulating air: 175 °C/ gas: see
manufacturer) gratinate for 3-4 minutes. Serve the soup in deep plates. Garnish cheese stars with remaining thyme and add 3 stars each to the soup and serve immediately.