Hearty Pumpkin Soup with Hazelnut Pesto

Today I need soup, we just made through a bad snow storm, I'm not sure how many inches yet, but I know it's well over a foot (30 cm +). So I decided to make a sweet and nutty pumpkin soup and garnish it with super fresh hazelnut pesto. Hazelnut by the way is my favorite nut. I don't usually make this soup because I'm the only one in the house that really likes it... ;)

It's super simple yet very comforting.

Hearty Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Hazelnut Pesto

For the soup:

1 pumpkin about 4 lb. (2 kg) total weight,

15 cloves of garlic

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup water

2 leeks (only white and tender green parts)

5 cups of broth

Salt and white pepper

pinch of turmeric (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Cut and peel the pumpkin into slices 1 inch thick.

Prepare a roasting pan, combine the pumpkin and garlic, drizzle over with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, pour the water. Roast stirring occasionally until gold and soft for about an hour. Remove from oven and let cool for a bit.

While everything is in the oven, in a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the remaining olive oil and saute the chopped leeks until golden brown (about 15 minutes)

Then add to the pot the roasted pumpkin and garlic cloves with the broth and using an immersion blender (if you don't have one you can use your regular blender and do this in batches) pureé until very smooth, bring to a simmer over medium heat, and season to taste with salt, pepper and turmeric. 

Ladle into warmed soup bowls and garnish with a dollop of sour cream or greek yogurt, the super easy nutty hazelnut pesto and chopped hazelnuts.

Hazelnut Pesto

For the hazelnut pesto:

2 cloves of garlic

2 cups of fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup of parsley

2 tablespoons of hazelnuts

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil 

the juice of half a lemon

3/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

water (to adjust thickness to your taste)

In a food processor combine the garlic, the herbs and process until finely chopped.

Add the nuts and again  process until finally chopped. With the motor running add the lemon juice and slowly pour the olive oil. Process until thick. 

Add the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste and process to mix. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

**Secret to keep your pesto super green: Blanch the basil leaves in boiling water for 5 seconds! it's simply wonderful!!!** 

Enjoy!