Last Nights Dinner 12.06.10

Pumpkin and Coconut Milk Soup

I was totally intrigued when I saw a pumpkin soup recipe that had coconut in it. I wasn’t sure what I thought it was going to taste like and I don’t know if I had high hopes, but boy was I surprised. It was delicious. I made it for a little girls night I had last night. A couple times a week I have been getting together with some girlfriends to do a Jillian Michaels work out video and then a little hang out time. Yesterday was freezing and all I wanted was something that would warm my belly. This soup definitely hit the spot.

1 medium pumpkin, (I just used 1 1/4 can of pumpkin puree because I couldn’t find a pumpkin at the grocery store)
14 oz. can of coconut milk
1/4 cup olive oil
Small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups veggie broth
Greek yogurt, for garnish

Clean, seed and peel the pumpkin then cut it into large chunks. Place the cut pumpkin into a large pot with the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot and continue to simmer the pumpkin until quite tender. Mash with a fork or potato masher. Set aside.

Use a new pot and heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Stir in the onion and garlic and saute until the onion is softened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the curry, the nutmeg and the red pepper flakes and cook for a minute longer. Add the mashed pumpkin and coconut milk back to the pot along with the 2 cups broth and bring to a boil. If the soup at this point seems too thick add the additional broth. Simmer, the soup for about 30 minutes.

Empty the soup into a blender and blend until quite smooth. Pour the soup back into the pot and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Serve the soup hot with a dollop of Greek yogurt on top.