This filling and colourful soup is great for a winters weekend day with rusty bread or toasted rolls. If you refrigerate for a couple of days its flavour will round out nicely, and it will taste even better! (You may need to thin it with some vegetable stock or coconut milk.)

I put this together and turned the slow cooker on while preparing dinner – I like to plan ahead, and to be honest, do more than one thing at a time! I figured this would save me time the next day and give me time for something a little more exciting perhaps!

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 tsp oil
• 1-2 tsp red curry paste
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 300 g deseeded, peeled & chopped pumpkin
• 300 g orange-fleshed kumara, peeled & thickly sliced
• 3/4 -1 400g can coconut cream/milk
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Chopped coriander to garnish

Cook the onion in a pan with the oil until soft and clear in colour – stir in the curry paste. Add 1/2 cup of the stock and stir the mix over thereat until the curry paste is mixed well through.

Turn your slow cooker to ‘Low’ – for an 8hour cook – or ‘High’ for 5 hours – I coat the inside of the bowl with a non-stick spray.

Tip the onion mix into the slow cooker bowl, add the vegetables, and the remainder of the stock.

Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender – and according to your time-table!

Puree the soup mixture in the slow cooker using your blending stick, or in small batches in a food blender, depending on what you have. Add coconut cream/milk as desired, mixing it in well. Taste before adding salt – only salt if you feel it necessary.

*Tip – 1tsp of red curry paste for a mild flavour and 2 tsp for a stronger, hotter flavour.

This is a really delicious soup for a cold and blustery day in late autumn or winter – and in Auckland at the moment that is normal weekend weather 🙂

Happy cooking xx