Ginger Pumpkin Curry Soup

This Thanksgiving I made every bit of my pumpkin pie from scratch. This entailed sawing open, gutting, and baking a 6 pound pie pumpkin. I had twice the amount of pumpkin that I needed in the end (sadly not more, because there are at least 20,000 more recipes using pumpkin I'd love to try). I'm not a fan of wasting food so I whipped up this recipe in my head and gave it a whirl. It turned out exactly how I imagined and like most puréed soups was stupid easy. 

Here's what you'll need (of the ingredient varietal):

1 sweet onion, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large clove garlic, minced

4 cups of cooked pumpkin, or 2 cans of purée (not the pie filling)

2 cans light coconut milk

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely grated

1/3 cup soy sauce or tamari

2 tablespoons curry powder

1 cup chopped spinach

Optional garnish:

Sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, chopped green onions.

Tools: Measuring cups, grater, knife, 6-8 quart pan, food processor/blender/immersion blender.

First things first, get out all of your ingredients and chop and grate. Doing this first makes the whole cooking process more breezy.

Add the olive oil, onion, garlic, and ginger to your pot and heat on medium until the onion becomes cooked and the others fragrant. 

Next throw in that scrumdiddlyumptious orange mushy stuff called pumpkin, mix it a little, and pour in both cans of decadent coconut milk (try not to taste too much of it from the can, you need all that creamy goodness in the soup). Mix well and add the soy sauce and curry powder.

Cook until hot and pretty well combined and then blend until it's velvety smooth. Once it's blended add it back to your pot and throw in the chopped spinach. Cook it for a couple of minutes (that will seem hideously long if you're really hungry or just want all the pumpkin in your mouth like me) on a medium low heat. 

Serve hot and garnish if you please. Enjoy the rich creaminess and pumpkin-y color. I highly recommend having it with a good ginger brew, but I might be a little bit of a ginger fiend. No big deal...

Everyone should also note, and be as thankful as I am, that my husband took the pictures for me. He's the photographer in this family.