Curried Butternut Pumpkin Soup

I love soup, all year round! Of course I'm not going to have a steaming bowl of delicious soup when it's 30+ degrees outside but still I will have soup every season of the year. Pumpkin soup is my absolute favourite, and I love this twist with curry and coconut milk....it turns ordinary pumpkin soup into a silky, rich and spicy meal.

Now I will have all my Canadian friends give me a hard time for calling it butternut pumpkin....over here it's butternut squash. Whatever you call it, it's delicious and pop's up alot in my cooking. I also love the idea of serving this for parties as an appetizer, serve it in espresso cups or shot glasses, it's a fun way to have soup in an unusual way, and all your guests will love it!

Curried Butternut Pumpkin Soup

1 large brown onion, roughly diced

1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, crushed

1.8 kilos butternut pumpkin (squash) peeled and roughly chopped
(about 2 medium pumpkins)

2 1/2 tblsp mild or madras curry paste

7 cups of reduced salt chicken broth

 600ml lite coconut milk

1/3 cup roughly chopped cilantro, plus extra for garnish

plain yogurt

salt and pepper

　

Put a large pot over medium-low heat and spray with oilve oil, add onion and garlic and gently cook until onion is soft, about 5-8 minutes. Add curry paste and cook for 1 minute. Add pumpkin, stir to coat with the curry paste and then add your chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft and you can squash it against the pot with the back of your wooden spoon. Take off the heat.

Blend soup until smooth in either a blender or using a hand held emersion blender. Return the soup to the pot and put over a medium heat and add the coconut milk and cilantro. Add salt and pepper to your taste.

To serve, laddle into a bowl, top with a heaped tablespoon of plain yogurt and sprinkle extra cilantro leaves. I like to serve this soup with warmed pita or naan bread on the side.