Warm up your winter with this sexy Thai-inspired soup. Homemade red curry paste delights your taste buds with earthy complex flavors and just the right amount of heat, while butternut squash adds delicious creaminess without adding fat.
Squash packs a ton of antioxidants and vitamins A & C, as well as boosting your immune system and bone health. Not to mention a healthy dose of Vitamin E and magnesium. We add carrots, onions, and red pepper to level up the nutrition and flavor.
This recipe is also easy to make. Yes, even the red curry paste! We promise you’ll never buy store bought paste again.
We top it off with coconut milk and roasted acorn squash to add decadence and texture. The layers of flavor will have you coming back for more, taste after taste.
The curry paste recipe makes about twice what you’ll need for this recipe. It’s delicious on pretty much anything, so use the rest within a few days or freeze it for later.
The best plan of action is to get the peppers soaking for the curry paste first. Prep the rest of the paste ingredients and then start the soup ingredients and acorn squash. By then you should be able to come back and blend the curry paste while the soup is cooking.
Makes: 8 Servings
Takes: 75 Minutes
Red Chili Paste:
16 dried red chilis (we used half New Mexico & half Anaheim)
4 3” pieces of lemongrass
2” ginger, peeled
zest of 1 lime (save the lime for the soup)
4 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp red miso
½ tsp coriander
½ tsp cumin
10 stalks cilantro (stems and leaves)
2 red shallots
¼ cup chili soaking water
Method:
Break open chilis, remove seeds, and tear chilis into small pieces. Place chilis into a bowl and pour hot water over them. Soak 30 minutes. Drain chilis, reserving ¼ cup of soaking water. Place all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend until smooth.
Soup:
2.5-3 lbs butternut squash, peeled, deseeded, cubed
4 cups vegetable broth
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
3 carrots, roughly chopped
¼ cup shredded coconut
¾ cup curry paste
1 tsp salt
½ tsp coriander
½ tsp cumin
Juice of 1 lime
2 Tbsp coconut milk (reserve the rest to use as a soup topper)
Method:
Place squash, broth, onion, bell pepper, carrots, & shredded coconut in a large pot. Boil, cover, and continue to boil for 30 minutes or so, till butternut squash is easily pierced by a fork. Turn off heat and thoroughly blend with an immersion blender.
Add the remaining ingredients. Stir, then blend with immersion blender again.
*Pro-tip: If you have a smoking gun, add some apple wood smoke to the finished product.
Roasted Acorn Squash:
2 lbs acorn squash, sliced into ½ inch rings and deseeded
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
Method:
Preheat oven to 425°. Toss squash rings in a bowl with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Place squash rings on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 10 minutes per side.
Assembly:
Ladle soup into a bowl. Place 2 rings of acorn squash in center. Make a ring around squash pieces with coconut milk. Garnish with cilantro, microgreens, and edible flowers.
Alternatively, chop the acorn squash into cubes instead of rings and place in center of soup.
Enjoy!
