Thai pumpkin soup

I said last year that I wanted to do some more soups and now that it has become chilly in Sydney after a long, hot summer it is a good time to test a soup using the combi oven.

Roasting your vegetables first is a great way to get more flavour and in this version cook your curry paste at the same time.  If you don’t have a combi then saute the vegetables in a splash of oil and the curry paste over a low heat and then transfer to the steam oven to finish the cooking.  You do need to cook out the curry paste.

This is a recipe that you can adapt and play around with yourself.  You might like to roast the vegetables in the first stage a lot longer to give them some colour and try it without the curry paste or use the spices from my Spicy pumpkin soup here.

Whatever option you choose remember to use the one deep dish for the roasting and steaming the soup so that all the flavours you have in the base of the pan will go into your soup, making it even more delicious 🙂

Ingredients:  Serves 6-8

½ Butternut pumpkin, chopped into chunks
½ large Kumera, chopped
4 cloves garlic
knob ginger, sliced
1-2 tablespoons of Red Curry Paste
1 Pandan leaf, split and tied in a knot (optional but nice)
1 leek sliced and washed well OR 1 onion chopped roughly and added with roasting stage.
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup water
1 cup coconut milk
Fresh coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

1. Chop all the vegetables except the leek if using into similar size chunks.
2. Put into a deep steam oven tray or deep large container that will hold over one litre.
3. Add the curry paste & pandan leaf if using to the centre, cover with the vegetables and cook on Combination mode 180°C plus 90% steam for 30 minutes.
4. Carefully remove dish from the oven and add the stock, water and leek if using.
5. Return and change to steam oven mode and cook 100°C for 30 minutes, stirring 10 minutes or so into the cooking time.  This will break up the curry paste now that it has been cooked and remove all the yummy bits from the bottom of the pan.
6. Test that everything is soft and remove from the steam oven.
7. Set aside to cool.  Add the coconut milk if using and puree until smooth.
8. Check for seasoning.  If you have used commercial stock the flavour should be OK otherwise season with fish sauce and a little brown sugar for that true Thai taste.
9. Garnish with fresh coriander to serve.  Yum 🙂