Monday, October 6, 2014

Thai Pumpkin Peanut Curry Soup

Jan here, with a pumpkin recipe that's a little bit different....

I LOVE pumpkin breads, pumpkin pie, and all the traditional pumpkin spice recipes, but sometimes a girl just wants some Thai food.

Spicy Thai food.

Delicious spicy Thai food.

And we live 700 miles away from my favorite Thai restaurant. Sigh.

So since it's October and time for everything pumpkin, I thought I'd share this recipe with you.



Thai Pumpkin Peanut Curry Soup
four servings, preparation time about 25 minutes



Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons oil (I use coconut oil, but olive oil works just as well)
3/4 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 or 2 small Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed, to make about 1 cup
3 Tablespoons Thai Curry Paste (red or green - I used green)
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup water
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
3 Tablespoons smooth peanut butter
salt and pepper to taste

Note: Like most soups, this recipe is very versatile. You can leave out the peanut butter if you need to, use vegetable broth instead of chicken, use russet potatoes instead of Yukon Gold, use pie pumpkins the way Virginia taught us here.... Make the recipe your own! :)



In a 3 quart sauce pan, heat the oil over medium heat, and then cook the chopped onions until they're soft.

Add the garlic, potatoes and curry paste. Cook, stirring constantly until everything is blended and the curry paste is fragrant - about 3 minutes. Mmmm...it's smelling good!

Increase the heat to high, and add the broth and water. Once it starts boiling, turn the stove down to low, partially cover, and let the soup simmer for 15 minutes or so.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the pumpkin and peanut butter. Stir until it's all blended, and you're ready to go!


I love this soup because of the blend of flavors - the slight sweetness of the pumpkin with the heat of the curry paste is fabulous!

Another way to serve this would be with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt in the bowl. Heavenly creaminess :)

Before I go I want to say a word about last week's ACFW conference. Of course I had a wonderful time - one of the highlights was giving our own Mindy a big hug :) But most important? Meeting and talking with my editors and agent face to face. There's just something about that personal connection that can't be duplicated in an e-mail!

Have a great Monday!


15 comments:

  1. Pumpkin is a favorite. Thai is a huge favorite. So this is sort of a pumpkin pad thai. I am all in!

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    1. You'll love this one, Tina! But since you already love Thai, you may want to add a little extra curry sauce for extra heat :)

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  2. looks like a bowl of tomato soup! do you eat anything with it? don't think I've ever had thai - though there are restaurants around here - just never been - currently I'm in my Vietnamese vermicelli bowl/sandwich/spring roll phase with chargrilled pork phase...re-entered Mexican/tex-mex phase Friday night...
    Susanna

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    1. You're right, Susanna. It does look like tomato soup! But that's where the similarity ends.....

      My daughter likes to use this as a sauce over a bowl of rice, but I find it filling enough just as it is (I usually have a pretty big bowl, though!)

      By the way, your "Vietnamese vermicelli bowl/sandwich/spring roll phase with chargrilled pork" sounds pretty tasy :)

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    2. it definitely is tasty! may switch back to that phase but ordering is so hard - on them too - they have Vietnamese working there and not all are good with English and my Vietnamese is non-existent. at least now I know to ask for the chargrilled pork otherwise some dishes have that steamed kind and I don't like that as well - ok not much at all! man now I'm hungry again!

      rice sounds good with this...

      Susanna

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    3. I love charred pork. On the grill, with a nice seasoning blend. There's something wonderful about charbroiled most anything!!!! But I especially love pork done that way with a side (of course!) of applesauce!)

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  3. Okay, you just made my Monday a thousand times better! And it is so easy for me to get all the ingredients!

    AND this isn't the usual pumpkin sweet stuff! Love savories!

    My pumpkin decor is out too!

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    1. One thing I like about this soup is that the ingredients are easy to keep on hand - so pumpkin soup anytime!

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  4. I'm so excited about this!!! I love Thai food. Love pumpkin. This is a dream combo!

    Thanks, Jan!

    Tina, maybe you could thicken this up (less broth), pour it over noodles and toss in some chopped peanuts to get your pad Thai. :)

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    1. I thought I remembered you like Thai food, Missy! You'll love this combo :)

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  5. And I got to hug you, too, Jan! One can never have enough hugs, you know.

    This recipe sounds SO good. The only thing that has me concerned is the potatoes, since I don't eat them anymore. Any suggestions?

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    1. I almost put this in the original post, but forgot - if you don't want the potatoes, just leave them out! If you're cooking for more than just yourself, you can sort them out. My Thai-loving son wants the potatoes in :)

      BTW - This soup is an E in the THM world. Isn't that great?

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  6. I didn't get over here yesterday, but Jan this sounds wonderful and different! The taste of peanut and curry together..... I've never been to a Thai restaurant (blame ol' Dave) but I'd love to try this at home and see if I can manage Thai seasoning. Thank you!!!

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    1. You'll love this soup, Ruthy. Tasty, warming, and easy-peasy. Can it get any better than that?

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