EASY STEP BY STEP

HOW TO MAKE

MY WINTER WARMING THAI STYLE PUMPKIN, CARROT & GINGER SOUP

Restaurant quality? You bet! Tasty and delicious? Definitely! Authentic homemade? For sure!

EASY? YES! YES! YES!

You too can also make this soup at home as a single person in the house and freeze portions for many happy returns on cold lonely winter nights or to feed a whole household when life just floors you with all it's going ons. Lets not beat around the bush and crack into it:).

A word of warning! I don't cook with measurements most of the time. This below soup created around 4 serves but you can make it for many more if you wish. I will explain what you need and what I added in each step with a picture. I know this is not how many people cook but it's how I cook, trial and error! Add a dash here.... pour a slurp there.... taste it.

1.GET TOGETHER YOUR PUMPKIN, BUTTERNUT & CARROTS.... THE CORE INGREDIENTS.
The below picture is what I put into my soup, obviously before cutting it all up. You can buy organic from your grocer if that's your thing or better yet, grow your own (I am in the process of doing so).

2. GATHER THE REST OF YOUR INGREDIENTS TOGETHER.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mise_en_place

This is called MISE EN PLACE ... or "putting in place". It's one key stage of cooking that everyone should do. Get all your ingredients out and ready. Chopped and placed into bowls, sauces out and ready, seasoning... everything. Have it ready to go!

Along with my core ingredients are homegrown birds eye chillies. I put in only 2 as they are hot! Technically, you make this as hot as you like, with or without the chillies is completely up to you. If you are cooking for family, you may want to leave them out. I also have some fresh ginger and cloves of garlic. Fresh coriander (Cilantro) which we will use the stalks and leaves. In the tropics they grow the Sawtooth (Perennial Coriander) variety which I also grow at home, this can be used as well. Stock will also be added, I cheated for this soup and bought Vegetable stock. I later made Chicken stock from scratch and now have that sitting in my freezer ready to use on such an occasion, but bought stock in liquid form or cubed is fine. Finishing off is Smoked Paprika, Curry Powder, good old Salt & Pepper and a good olive oil.

3. GET OUT A SUITABLE BAKING DISH FOR THE OVEN. YOU ARE GOING TO ROAST YOUR INGREDIENTS FIRST.

In goes chopped chillies and ginger. Make sure you remove the outer skin of the ginger or you will have chewy bits in your soup! I put in whole cloves of garlic, skin removed. I added more than you see here, I love garlic!

Roughly cube your pumpkin and butternut and slice the carrots all chunky style and put them in the roasting dish. Chop up some Coriander stalks and chuck them in also. Dust generously with the Paprika and Curry Powder.

Pour over some good olive oil and with your hands, stir it all up. Get your hands in people! Get dirty! Feel that food :)

4. COVER YOUR DISH WITH FOIL AND ROAST AWAY SLOWLY FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR.
Roasting times will vary, so check on your dish in half and hour to see if it is cooking to fast. I have a crappy rented electric over so my temperature sat on around 200 Degrees Celsius (around 390 Fahrenheit) but larger better fan forced ovens will definitely need a lower temperature. Once you think it's getting close and looking a little mushy, remove the foil to brown it a little.

5. CAREFULLY TRANSFER YOUR MUSHY GOODNESS INTO A LARGE POT.
Please wear gloves and beware of splash back!

6. GET OUT YOUR STAB MIXER. IT'S BLENDING TIME! 
The super fun part :)

Pour in some stock. I used Vegetable in liquid form. I poured in a quarter of the liquid and then blended. Added a little more, blended a little more.

The soup is looking pretty well blended and no noticeable shapes can be seen in there. You don't want to recognise the vegetables any more so keep blending! Aim to maintain a thick consistency.

Now pour in your Coconut Cream. I used Coconut Cream to give it that Asian flavour but you can also use Coconut Milk. I wanted to keep my soup think so opted for the cream. You can leave the Cream out or substitute it for regular thick cream or even milk. I used the whole can in my soup. Get blending again until no cream is visible. If you feel your waistline expanding reading this then leave out all the milk and cream. If you are lactose intolerant you will need to do this, obviously!

Add a dash of more Vegetable stock to your liking as the soup will be very think after adding in cream.

The consistency should be smooth and creamy now, but relatively still thick and not watery. It will be lighter in colour because of the cream. Add in Salt & Pepper to your liking.

7. THE SOUP IS YOURS TO ENJOY!
Let the soup cool if you want to pour it into containers and freeze them for a cold rainy night when you can't be bothered cooking OR enjoy it fresh out of the pot! Ladle it carefully into a bowl and garnish with what you like.

I like meals hot and spicy, especially if it is in any way Asian. I garnished with fresh Coriander leaves and homegrown Chillies and fresh Ground Pepper.

ENJOY!
#getathriftylife