party squash soup

servings
4

method

I like to think of this as a happy soup. The amazing heat from the chili will really get your endorphins going and the rice is so comforting. It’s just what you need in the cold winter months. The secret to making it so good is to really work the seasoning at the end, and pimp it up with some beautiful fresh lime juice. You can vary it by using noodles instead of rice, or adding some pulled chicken or sweetcorn, but as it stands, this is a great veggie dish.

Get a high-sided pan or wok on a medium-high heat to get nice and hot, and pour your stock into a small pan on a low heat to get warm. To make your fragrant soup base, add the lime leaves, chillies, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and a pinch of salt to a food processor. Chop the top few leaves off your bunch of coriander and pop to one side, then add the rest to the processor and blitz for 30 seconds or so until fairly fine. With the processor still running, add a few good lugs of olive oil, the five-spice and ground cumin. Tip this mixture straight into your hot pan, you can add a splash of stock to loosen it if you want, and fry and stir for a couple of minutes so it starts smelling fantastic. Add your sliced onion, then cook gently for 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the squash to the pan and stir well, then pour in the stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until the squash is lovely and soft. At this point, add the rice and give it a really good stir. If it looks a bit dry, you can add a splash of water here. Continue to simmer for about 8 minutes until the rice is almost cooked, then add the coconut milk and bring back to the boil. Simmer for a couple of minutes until hot through and thickened a little. I like to squash up some of the squash at this point too.

Take the pan off the heat, give it a good stir, then taste and season carefully with salt and pepper. To give it a bit of twang add the lime juice – the amount you need will depend on how juicy your limes are, so keep tasting it as you go. Scatter with more sliced fresh chili and your reserved coriander leaves before serving.

If you’re making this for a party, what I like to do is to hack the top off a massive pumpkin, scoop out the insides, then bake the shell in the oven for 40 minutes at 100ºC/220ºF/gas ¼. You can then use this as a receptacle for your hot soup, and as long as it’s an inch or so thick, it should keep warm for a good hour or so. Have it sitting out at the party with a load of little cups and bowls lined up next to it and a bunch of lime wedges, and let everyone help themselves!

ingredients

• 1¼ liters chicken or vegetable stock, preferably free-range or organic
• 6–7 lime leaves
• 3 fresh red chillies, deseeded
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 large thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled
• 3 sticks of lemongrass, trimmed and squashed with the back of a knife
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a small bunch of fresh coriander
• olive oil
• 1 heaped teaspoon five-spice
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 large butternut or acorn squash, halved, deseeded and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 200g basmati rice, washed
• 2 x 400ml tins coconut milk
• juice of 3-4 limes
optional: 1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced

share this page

daily recipe rss

new recipe rss

tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...

1. by Irene on Thu 09 Feb 2012 @ 19:42

I'm Carmen's mom... and I agree! Our yesterday-and-today's lunch it's great! We also didn't have five-spice, so we used allspice and a teaspoon of curry powder. Thanks!

2. by Carmen on Wed 08 Feb 2012 @ 20:23

SOOOOOO DELICIOUS!! OH MY GOODNESS!! My mom and I could't have a better lunch EVER. As we don't have a food processor I chopped everything but the lemongrass (too hard) instead I left it whole and removed and it has a lovely taste!! with this cold weather we couldn'tt have chosen a better recipe. Luckily we have enough for ourselves for the whole week :D I sliced some chicken in mine and it was great, my mom sliced a bit of ham and manchego cheese and it was AWESOME too!! THANKS JAMIE!

3. by Magda on Mon 02 Jan 2012 @ 20:26

Love it! Love it! Love it! It’s easy to make nutritious and great in this weather. I did not have 5 spice but put all spice instead, I will sure make this for my friends near future. I will take any leftovers for my lunch tomorrow.<br /> Mmmm just going for second helpings! At this rate I will not have any to carry to work for my lunch.<br /> Thanks Jaime<br />

4. by gmc8861 on Fri 30 Dec 2011 @ 15:42

LOVED this recipe! Really tasty and really easy to suit your own taste in terms of chili heat/noodles or rice/vegetarian or not - definitely doing this one again. Only problem I found is that the lemon grass can be a bit stringy if your not using a decent food processor, so second time round i just smashed them and put them in whole and removed before serving :)

leave comments

related recipes

artichoke risotto
Even though artichokes are a really everyday ingredient in Italy, in the UK and Australia they do feel...
Read more

baked potato skins with gorgonzola, rocket and mustard fruit
Mustard fruits are available in most Italian delis. They’re just like glacé fruits but are flavoured...
Read more

videos