I had to reschedule lunch with my friend for whom I planned to make this soup and -boy! - did she get lucky. It is delicious made with vegetarian stock or chicken broth (which is what I planned to make it with) but, since I had just made duck stock, I used that instead. It added a depth of flavor that was an added plus to this soup, which is already surprisingly complex in flavor. You might not think that squash/pumpkin and cauliflower would be a good match but I often find squash/pumpkin too sweet and cauliflower - especially roasted cauliflower - tones that down.
Makes about 3 quarts of soup - plenty for the freezer too!
4 cups microwaved squash or pumpkin flesh (my squash weighed about 3 lbs and canned would probably work here as well)
2 cups roasted cauliflower florets
10 cups duck stock (or chicken, or vegetable, or even water)
1/2 chopped red onion
1 Tbsp good curry powder (not the supermarket curry powder equivalent of Parmesan in the ubiquitous green tin)
1/2 can full fat coconut milk
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste
Preheat oven to 400.
Microwave your whole squash or pumpkin for 10 minutes in the microwave, 5 minutes on each side. This will make it easy to seed and remove the pulp from the skin. Remove from the microwave and set aside as is to cool slightly.
Toss the cauliflower florets in 2 teaspoons of the oil and some salt. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes, shaking the pan to redistribute after 10 minutes.
While the cauliflower is roasting, prepare the base of the soup. Put the remaining teaspoon of oil in a large stockpot and heat over medium heat until shimmering. Add the curry powder to the pan, stir to combine with the oil and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds, until the curry is fragrant and well combined with the oil.
Add the chopped onion and continue to cook, stirring, until the onion has started to soften - this will only take a few minutes.
Add the coconut milk to the pan and stir to combine. Now add the stock.
While the stock is heating, cut the squash in half. Remove the seeds and spoon the pulp into a bowl. Measure out 4 cups of the flesh for the purposes of this recipe and add it to the stock pot.
By this time, the cauliflower should be ready to come out of the oven. Tip it into the pan as well. I reserved a few florets to serve as a garnish but that is not a necessary step.
As sroon as the soup comes to a boil, remove fom the heat. Blend until smooth using an immersion blender.
Taste the soup and add salt as needed.
I ladled this soup into large soup bowls in which I had placed some of the roasted cauliflower florets and some chopped roasted pobano peppers. This looked pretty and felt cheffy but was definitely an optional step. A drizzle of cream or a dusting of chopped coriander would work as well.
I served this soup with Easy No Yeast Olive Oil Flatbreads, and followed it with a dessert of sliced, baked apples topped with creamline yogurt.
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