Pumpkin and Coconut Soup Recipe

You can't avoid pumpkin soup when you live in Australia. Its one of those dishes that seems to be everyone's favorite dish to to serve when entertaining. For my husband this is a curse but I can get him to eat this version which seems to actually enjoy. Pumpkins are available in Australia all year round but if out of season where you live you can use butternut squash which funny enough is known as butternut pumpkin in Australia.

6 Portions

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Pumpkin and Coconut Soup:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5kg pumpkin, peeled deseeded and diced
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ginger, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
• 400ml coconut milk
• 500ml vegetable or chicken stock or water
• maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper

To Serve:

• Bush Tomato Damper (see recipe)
• coriander leaves

Method:
Soup: Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a moderate-high heat. When the oil is hot add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook it for a couple of minutes until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the fresh coriander and pumpkin to the pan and cook the mixture while stirring for a couple of minutes. Add the coconut milk and stock or water to the pan and bring it slowly to a boil. Skim off any scum that may come to the top and reduce the soup to a simmer and leave it to cook gently for 30 minutes, stirring it at regular intervals. The soup is ready when the pumpkin is cooked and tender. Remove the pan from the heat, remove the bay leaf and allow it to cool slightly.

Ladle some of the soup into a food processor or blender (be careful not to overfill it or you will end up with a large mess). Puree the soup until smooth and return it to clean saucepan. Repeat this until you have pureed all the soup. The soup should be a thick pourable consistency if it is too thick add more coconut milk, stock or water.

Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste and reheat before serving it or place it in a covered container and refrigerator until ready to reheat and serve.

To Serve: Ladle the soup into soup bowls and garnish the soup with corriander leaves. Serve the soup with freshly cooked Bush Tomato Damper or bread of your choice.

The International Food Database
Where you can find different recipes around the world
http://ifooddb.blogspot.com/