Skip to main content

Coconut and Eastern Herbs Pumpkin Soup

One day long time ago I started adding coconut cream and fresh coriander to my pumpkin soup... and my life changed!

The fact is that I always found creamed pumpkin soup a little... predictable?
It always tasted the same to me!

This time I also added some Vietnamese mint (one of the few herbs still alive in my garden) and the result was a fragrant pumpkin soup.

Another thing that I have to say about pumpkin is that I hate cutting it! So this time I roasted the whole pumpkin first, in the oven, for well over an hour... can't remember really, but I was baking other stuff and I thought of putting in the pumpkin too, and after a while I added an onion, peeled.



In the end the pumpkin was so soft that I could cut it with a spoon! I removed the skin and seeds and placed it in a pot with the onion. I added vegetable stock and then I blended everything. Finally I added one can of coconut cream and simmered it for 15 minutes. I turned the stove off, then I added some fresh chopped coriander and a couple of stalks (with leaves!) of fresh Vietnamese mint (to be removed before eating).

This is my number one pumpkin soup, definitely!



Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©
Labels:

Comments

  1. aipiNovember 1, 2010 at 4:09 PM

    Yummy soup, looks hearty and filling..perfect for halloween:)

    US Masala

    ReplyDelete
  2. AlessandraNovember 1, 2010 at 4:36 PM

    Yes, I didn't think of Halloween (something new here in New Zealand) but you are right! Thank you Aipi!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AdelinaNovember 1, 2010 at 5:36 PM

    hmmmm...I can feel the flavours- what can be better than pumpkin soup in fall here? not fall in NZ- no worries- it is welcome any time!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AlessandraNovember 1, 2010 at 5:49 PM

    Yes, spring here :-) Thank you for your comment Adelina ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. veenaNovember 1, 2010 at 8:46 PM

    Soup looks so creamy, loved the color and definitely apt for Halloween

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownNovember 1, 2010 at 9:49 PM

    hey thanks for commenting..followin u..nice blog..
    i like cooking too..n m also new to make up...

    ReplyDelete
  7. two vegan boysNovember 2, 2010 at 2:28 AM

    Thanks for stopping by our blog. The soup looks amazing. Yum.

    ReplyDelete
  8. ChocletteNovember 2, 2010 at 7:32 AM

    I love pumpkin soup of any description, but my favourite and the one we usually make uses coconut milk - yum! Have never had Vietnamese mint but I'm sure it was a lovely addition.

    Thanks for following my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  9. RachanaNovember 2, 2010 at 11:07 AM

    Wow! I love pumpkin soup and this looks so creamy and yummy :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. AlessandraNovember 2, 2010 at 2:00 PM

    Thank you all for your lovely comments :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownNovember 4, 2010 at 12:19 AM

    Wow I love the way u narrate..Simple yet worth reading...I never had Pumpkin soup in y life,the recipe lucks very catchy...Got to try this...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to make Rose Turkish Delights (Lokum), and Sweet New Zealand

Rose Turkish Delights (Lokum) Before I start I would like to say that I don't have a sugar thermometer, essential if you are really into confectionery, and that I didn't use much sugar for these Turkish delights. Many recipes use much more sugar, and it is not that I wanted to make a low sugar treat here (it is still pretty sweet), it is just that making it at home really makes me realize how much sugar there is already in my diet, and if I can have something with a little less... well, why not! This method is 'home friendly' i.e. these can be made at home with very little effort and equipment, and the recipe comes from my book  Sweet As...  where I also have the recipe for lavender and orange blossom Turkish Delights. Ingredients 1 l water 300 g sugar 2 tbsp lemon juice 100 g cornflour 1 tbsp frozen raspberries 1 tbsp rose water icing sugar (very little) and cornflour (lots) to dust. In a pot put hal
9 comments
Read more

Home Made Marzipan Sweets

This is another recipe from my book Sweet As , and something that I love to make for Xmas. I would like to say that for marzipan you should get the best almonds around, natural, but here in New Zealand the almonds taste different from the ones in Italy. They are imported, not sure where from most of the time, but they are not top grade almonds. Still, with a few tips, you can make your marzipan taste great even with 'regular' almonds! Buy them natural, not blanched, you need to blanche then yourself or the result will be too dry. To blanch them you need to put them in boiling water for a couple of minutes, and then add cold water and take the skin off, one by one. For this recipe you will need: 200 g almonds 100 g icing sugar 5 apricot kernels. As I was saying before, the almond here have little taste, so I like to collect the stones from apricot and get the almonds out. They are a real pain to crack! In the photo above you can see apricot stones and kernels. The apricot kernel
13 comments
Read more

Kamo Kamo Maori Squash and Italian Borlotti Beans

A crop which gives me great pleasure is borlotti beans, not only for their flavour but also because I love the idea of growing protein food! I eat fresh borlotti, or I dry them and then use them to make nice soups and stews; in particular I like soups with pumpkins, but since this year I am traveling on, I will not enjoy the pumpkins that are growing in my garden. So I tried a different 'pairing'. A friend gave me some kamo kamo, the traditional Maori squash, and told me that the way to eat it is to boil it (skin on) and then cut it and spread it with butter (or olive oil...) salt and pepper, and scoop the flesh out with a fork. I had two kamo kamo so I boiled one (as a was told) and cut the other and sauted with a drop of olive oil and other vegetables from my garden: red onion, and celery. Then I added the beans and some water, salt and pepper, and cooked everything until the beans were soft. I added water little by little, when necessary, and I thought that this would be goo
9 comments
Read more