Winter Squash and Hazelnut Soup

This tasty, mild soup is very nice on a cold day. Using the nuts to thicken the soup brings extra nutrition to the meal. We enjoyed it with a fresh wholegrain bread.

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 cups water
• 1½ teaspoon vegetable bouillon powder
• 1 can coconut milk
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ⅓-½ cups hazelnut flour (or hazelnut butter as alternative)
• 1-2 tablespoon maple or agave syrup
• salt and [pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot.
2. Saute until the onion becomes glassy.
3. Add the water and vegetable bouillon.
4. Add the pumpkin puree and stir to mix well
5. Add the seasonings and mix well again.
6. Cook the soup until hot.then turn down to just keep it warm
7. Add the hazelnut flour and thin the soup with the coconut milk.
8. Season to taste with salt and pepper and a splash or 2 of maple syrup.
9. We garnished the soup with a few Italian parsley leaves, some chopped hazelnuts and a few small pieces of diced pumpkin which had been steamed.

Notes:

To make hazelnut flour, you merely put some (shelled) hazelnuts in a coffee or herb grinder and whiz to make the ground nuts.