Hearty Pumpkin Soup w/Orange

This sounded like a strange combination, but I happened to have all (well, most) the ingredients on hand so I gave it a try. I am so glad I did because it's surprisingly good! Somehow the brightness of the orange really enhances the flavor of the pumpkin and it melds together beautifully.

Hearty Pumpkin Soup w/Orange Recipe (adapted from The Pumpkin Cookbook), serves 4-6
1 ½ lb pumpkin or kabocha squash, peeled, seeded and diced
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup brown rice
1 lb carrots, peeled and sliced
5 cups chicken or veggie stock, warmed
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2" stick cinnamon
sea salt to taste
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
1 cup frozen peas (I didn't have any so I used edamame and it was good)
1 orange

To a large sauce pan or dutch oven, add pumpkin, onion, rice, carrots and stock. Bring to a boil and add the spices. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer about 45 mins or until pumpkin has pretty much disintegrated into soup and the carrots and onion are tender. Add peas or edamame and cook just until warmed through, about 5 mins. Remove cinnamon stick.

Cut 4 or 6 (depending on how many people you're serving) thin slices from the center of the orange for the garnish. Grate the rest of the zest and add to soup along with the juice from the orange. Serve in warmed bowls and garnished with the orange slice.