Cool evenings call for comfort food!

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We have been enjoying marvelous weather with blue, cloudless skies and temperatures in the low 20s °C. In the evening, however, temperatures drop and we have had some 10 °C nights. This calls for warm dinners and we have plenty of good recipes, both tried-and-true and some new ones to try out.

One of our all-time favorites is a spicy pumpkin soup with ginger, chilies and cumin. We usually use a Hokaido pumpkin, which is especially suitable because you don’t need to remove the skin. There is, however, no reason not to make this with a butternut squash, giant pumpkin, musquee de Provence or other winter squashes. This is a very quick and simple recipe.

 

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

 

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Ingredients:

1 Hokaido (small Japanese) pumpkin, seeds removed, cut into 1″ cubes with shell

1 onion, diced

2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

1 small fresh red hot chilli pepper finely grated or chopped

cumin, salt and pepper

2 Tblsp. sweet cream

 

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Sautee onion, add pumpkin cubes and about 2 cups water

Add ginger, chilli, salt and cumin (about 1/2 tsp each or according to taste)

put on low boil for about 20 minutes, then puree, add about 3 Tblsp. cream, adjust seasoning and serve with chopped cilantro (coriander greens).

 

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We sometimes make up very simple little Moroccan spiced meatballs to put in the soup. To one pound of ground beef we add 1 – 2 tablespoons of ras-el-hanout or baharat (northern African spice mixtures), garlic, salt, pepper and dried chilies and fry in olive oil just until done through (about 10 minutes). Fresh baguette or sourdough bread make a perfect accompaniment.

 

A Tasty Broccoli Quiche

 

We especially like this recipe because it spices up the broccoli with pancetta and mozzarella. The recipe is simple and quick and is definitely worth making.

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