Butternut Squash and Green Curry Soup (Serves 6-8)
Ingredients
For the soup:
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil or neutral-tasting oil
- 3 medium shallots, diced
- 1 (5cm) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 lemon-grass stalk, cut into 8cm pieces
- Kosher salt
- 2 medium butternut squashes (1,8kg), peeled, seeded and cut into about 2cm cubes
- 2 (380g) cans coconut milk
- 6 to 8 tablespoons Thai green curry paste, or to taste
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 3 to 4 cups water or chicken stock, preferably home-made
For the garnish:
3/4 cup raw peanuts
3/4 cup unsweetened raw coconut flakes
2 tablespoons fish sauce
8 small dried red chillies, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon neutral-tasting or melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon minced lemon-grass
1 teaspoon sugar
10 lime leaves, thinly sliced (optional)
Handful of Thai or Italian basil leaves
2 to 3 limes, quartered
Method
- Heat oven to 150 degrees.
- Melt oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat.
- When oil shimmers, add shallots, ginger, lemon-grass and a generous pinch of salt. Reduce heat to low.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are tender and just starting to brown, about 18 minutes.
- Add squash, coconut milk, curry paste, 3 tablespoons fish sauce and 3 cups water or stock. Increase heat to high.
- When liquid comes to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook the soup covered until squash is tender, about 25 minutes.
- Make garnish while soup cooks:
- In a medium mixing bowl, toss together peanuts, coconut flakes, fish sauce, chillies, 1 tablespoon oil, the minced lemon-grass, the sugar and the lime leaves, if using.
- Spread mixture out onto a baking sheet in a single layer.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes after the first 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven when coconut is deep golden brown, and pour mixture immediately into a bowl to prevent overcooking. Stir to combine, and set aside.
- Remove soup from heat.
- Remove lemon-grass stalks from pot.
- Use a hand blender to purée soup. Alternatively, transfer soup in batches to a blender or food processor and purée.
- Taste and adjust for salt and curry paste. Add water or stock to thin soup to the desired consistency.
- Thinly slice the basil leaves and arrange on a small plate or platter, along with lime wedges and peanut mixture.
Serve soup hot with garnishes.