Thai Pumpkin Soup

It seems that I have been making a lot of orange-colored food recently. And orange-colored soups in particular. It's not that I have anything special with orange, but let's face it...it's a gorgeous, warm color and certainly brightens up winter meals. After the success of the Mexican pumpkin chipotle soup that I made last month and seeing that there were still cans of pumpkin in our pantry, I knew that a another pumpkin soup was in order. Not just any run of the mill pumpkin soup though, but rather a Thai-influenced one (yes, I am still in Thailand mentally!), with the zesty flavors of ginger, Thai red chili, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves infused into it...

This is a very easy to soup to make for a weeknight dinner but also one that will surely impress guests. Enjoy it!

THAI PUMPKIN SOUP

Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 stalks lemongrass, chopped large and mashed

1 Thai red chili, chopped large (optional - if you like heat!)

2 tablespoons ginger paste

1 tablespoon garlic paste

2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
1 can (13.5 ounces or 400 millileters) coconut milk
1 can (15 ounces or 425 grams) pumpkin puree
1/4 cup water
Juice of 1 lime
4 kaffir lime leaves
Brown sugar or agave syrup, to taste
Fried onions for garnish

1. Warm olive oil in a large pot. Add onions and lemongrass and saute for 5 minutes. When onions are almost transculent, add optional red chili and ginger and garlic pastes and saute a couple of minutes more. Finally, add red curry paste and mix well. Let cook for 5 minutes, adding a bit more oil if necessary.

2. Add the coconut milk and pumpkin puree. Stir well, breaking up the puree. Cook until warmed through, about 5-7 minutes.

3. Puree in a blender, taking care to work in two batches if necessary depending on the volume of your blender. Strain into a large bowl to get rid of the whole lemongrass and red chillies. Return to pot.

4. Add 1/4 cup water, lime juice, kaffir lime leaves and brown sugar / agave syrup. Stir well. Cook for 8-10 minutes until the flavors get infused into the soup.

5. Serve in small bowls topped with fried onions.