RECIPE: Thai Pumpkin Soup

I’ve never cooked with pumpkin before and was surprised to discover that you can’t really cook with the ones sold for carving.

The only reason I made the soup was because pumpkin was on offer in the supermarket and I thought that for £1 each it would make a tasty cheap soup.
The next task was to look up a recipe, some using spices, some using dairy to enrich it, some using Thai ingredients. Only one thing wrong I didn’t have any lemongrass, chillies or red Thai paste. However I did have coconut and a jar of chopped chillies. So I set to work on my version of the soup, here’s the result and recipe.

Thai Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:  Enough for 4 to 6  portions.

• 1 cooking pumpkin weighing about 1 Kilo
• 1 onion – chopped
• half block of creamed coconut
• 2 teaspoons of chopped chillies (or 2 fresh red chillies chopped – up to you if you add seeds!)
• 1 litre hot vegetable or chicken stock
• salt and pepper

Method

• Preheat oven 180 degrees Gas Mark 4.
• Quarter the pumpkin,  remove seeds and thready pith. Slice each quarter into 2 and place on a baking tray, drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for approx 30 minutes or until soft.
• Meanwhile, fry the onion in a little oil until transparent – do not let it brown.
• Add the stock, chillies and coconut. ( break up into small chunks – it will melt into the liquid)
• Bring to the boil and leave to simmer stirring to melt the coconut.
• When the pumpkin is soft, scrape the flesh off the peel and chop into smaller pieces. Add the pumpkin to the stock base.
• Simmer for 15 mins.

To Serve:

• Blitz the soup with a hand whisk until smooth. Add more stock or hot water until it is the consistency you like.
• Adjust seasoning to taste.
• Serve with toasted tortilla wraps cut into wedges / toast / prawn crackers

Alternatives:

• Use canned coconut milk instead of the creamed coconut, reduce the amount of stock used to around 700ml
• Add a stalk or two of lemongrass – bruise and cut in half – remove before blitzing.
• Use a couple of teaspoons of red Thai paste instead of chillies and lemongrass.

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