When I came home last night, I really felt like having soup, but not like putting a lot of effort into cooking. I had a little pumpkin and some carrots left and made this quick and easy dish. If you don't like hazelnuts you can substitute them with pumpkin seeds or walnuts.

Ingredients:

1 small pumpkin such as kabocha squash, pumpkin, gold nugget squash or butternut squash, peeled, cored and diced
1 cup of carrots diced
1 small onion, diced
1 teaspoon of curry
1/2 bouillon cube or ready veggie stock
zest from 1/2 lemon
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1 table spoon of olive oil
1 handful of hazelnuts

SERVES 2 PEOPLE

Preparation:

Saute oil, curry and onions for 5 minutes
Add squash and carrots, sauté for a couple of minutes
Add stock or water and bouillon, just barley covering the veggies
Cover and cook at a low boil for 10 minutes
Add lemon juice and zest a couple of minutes before the veggies are tender
Roast hazelnuts in a pan
Once veggies in soup are soft, remove from heat; puree with an immersion blender or in your blender
Serve with roasted hazelnuts on top.

Enjoy!

Having a hard time peeling your pumpkins? If so, your not alone! Most people don't know how to peel a pumpkin in a quick and painless way. Because numerous clients have asked me that questions, I decided to write a post about it. pump1

You need a specific, very inexpensive tool to do this:

A swiss potato peeler: I use the one made my Kuhn Rikkon. It has a nice sharp blade, and works for many other kitchen tasks. The peelers are available in a range of color at Sur La Table and only cost $ 3.50! (Makes a great stocking stuffer!)

All you do is peel the pumpkin with this handy little tool. Don't cut the pumpkin before you peel it! It needs to be intact to be firm enough to withstand the pressure needed to peel it in this fashion

That's it! problem solved; you are ready to make all kinds of pumpkin dishes now!