Thai Pumpkin Soup

This is taken from the BBC Good Magazine currently on sale - October 2010.  It's definitely worth making.  Mine was a little more orange than the one in the picture but that could've been because I over-roasted the squash - actually, there's the solution there.  I used squash instead of pumpkin.  Doh! 

You need:

1.5kg pumpkin or squash peeled and roughly chopped.

4tsp sunflower oil ( I used rapeseed oil as it's an Irish product)

1 onion, sliced

1 tbsp grated ginger (I used lazy ginger)

1 lemongrass, bashed a little

3 -4 tbsp Thai red curry paste

400ml can coconut milk

850ml vegetable stock

lime juice and sugar, for seasoning

1 red chilli, sliced to serve (optional - I didn't use it)

Then you:

Heat oven to 200c/180c fan/fas 6.  Toss the pumpkin or squash in a roasting tin with half the oil and seasoning, then roast for 30 minutes until golden and tender.  It took upwards of 40 minutes for me but that could be because I didn't uniformly slice/dice the squash.  It's a bugger to peel etc.

Meanwhile, put the remaining oil in a pan with teh onion, ginger and lemongrass.  Gently cook for 8 -10 minutes until softened.  Stir in the curry paste for 1 minute, followed by the roasted squash, all but 3 tbsp of the coconut milk and the stock.  Bring to a simmer, cook for 5 minutes, then fish out the lemongrass.  Cool for a few minutes, then whizz until smooth with a hand blender or in a large blender in batches.  Return to the pan to heat through, seasoning with salt, pepper, lime juice and sugar if it needs it.  Serve drizzled with the remaining coconut milk and scattered with chilli, if you like.

You'll end up with a thick, spicy soup.  The kids loved it, well nearly all of them.  #1 is harder to please.  But #2 had it for breakfast last Sunday.  Cold!  Next time I make it I think I'll use less paste and add a bit more stock to have a less thick soup.  Make it please, it's delicious.  You can freeze it and it's perfect for coming in and in and in from school runs!