Thai Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 T brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium pumpkin (~ 1.2 kg), peeled and diced
2 c water
400 ml coconut milk
1 – 2 fresh or dried chillies, finely chopped
1 T lemongrass, minced or ½ t finely grated lemon rind
1 T fish sauce
salt
pepper
¼ c fresh coriander or parsley, chopped

Method:

1. Heat oil in a big pot and gently cook onion, sugar and garlic until softened (8 – 10 minutes).
2. Add all other ingredients except fresh coriander/parsley and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Mash roughly.
4. Adjust seasonings to taste.Garnish with fresh coriander or parsley.

Serves 4
Freezes well

The most time consuming part of this recipe is cutting up the pumpkin. You can short circuit this by buying chopped pieces of pumpkin. Aternatively, microwaving a whole pumpkin for 10 minutes makes cutting easier.