Pumpkin soup with coconut milk – one base, 3 versions

A Hokkaido pumpkin, two onions, a few cloves of garlic and one baking tray in the oven — that's all you need to prepare the base for three completely different cream soups. Michał roasted the vegetables in our office (the whole place smelled amazing), divided them into three parts and blended each with coconut milk, but with different spices. The result was a classic version with turmeric and cinnamon, a Thai version with curry and lemon, and a ginger version. Below you'll find the proportions, a few tricks and a ranking.

Which pumpkin should you choose for cream soup?

Hokkaido is the most convenient because you don't need to peel its skin. After roasting, it softens along with the flesh and blends easily, and you save over ten minutes of knife work. If you have a butternut squash or a large ordinary pumpkin, it's better to peel the skin — it's harder and would leave lumps in the soup.

Michał's pumpkin turned out to be exceptionally hard, so a sharp knife and a moment of patience will come in handy. First cut it in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon, then it's easier to cut.

Base for three soups: roasted pumpkin with onion and garlic

Instead of boiling the pumpkin, Michał roasted it. Roasting brings out the pumpkin's sweetness and gives it a slightly caramel flavor, while the onion becomes soft and tender. You won't get this in a boiled soup.

You need (base for 3 versions):

• 1 medium Hokkaido pumpkin
• 2 onions
• 3 cloves of garlic
• olive oil
• 300 ml water and a tablespoon of BIO vegetable broth
• 300 ml BIO coconut milk (from one 400 ml can you'll have some left for decorating)

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C with fan convection.
2. Cut the pumpkin, scoop out the seeds and cut it into pieces of similar size. Cut the onions into quarters. Spread everything on the baking tray together with the garlic and drizzle with olive oil.
3. Roast for about 30 minutes until the pumpkin softens and browns nicely.
4. Leave the vegetables for 15–20 minutes to cool down. Don't put hot vegetables in the blender.
5. During this time, dilute the broth with 300 ml of hot water. Our broth is very aromatic, so start with a smaller amount and season to taste.
6. Divide the roasted vegetables into three equal parts — each is the base for one version of the soup.

Has the coconut milk solidified in the can? Milk without guar gum and stabilizers thickens in the cold, and the coconut fat collects at the top. This is normal. Michał then puts the closed can in a pot of hot water for a few minutes. After a while, the milk is smooth and creamy again — just shake the can before opening.

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Blend until thick, thin out gradually

This is the rule that saves every cream soup. Michał first blends the vegetables with just the coconut milk, and adds the broth in batches, about 50 ml at a time, until he gets his favorite consistency. A soup that is too thick is easy to fix, but one that is too thin is not. It's easiest to work with a hand blender directly in the pot, but a blender jar will also do. Before serving, heat the soup over low heat.

Version 1: classic pumpkin soup with turmeric and cinnamon

The most universal of the three. Michał recommends it for lunch with guests because it won't surprise anyone with an overly intense flavor. The sweetness of the pumpkin balances perfectly with the coconut, while turmeric and cinnamon add a warm, spicy aroma.

You need:

• ⅓ roasted base (pumpkin, a few onion quarters, 1 clove of garlic squeezed out of its skin)
• 100 ml coconut milk
• about 100 ml broth, added gradually
• ½ teaspoon of ground BIO turmeric
• 1 teaspoon of BIO Ceylon cinnamon

Blend the vegetables with the coconut milk. Add 50 ml of broth, add the turmeric and cinnamon and blend further, and if the soup is still too thick — add the rest of the broth little by little. Michał likes thick creams, so he stopped earlier than with the next versions.

Michał's rating: 5 out of 5. He would add a little more turmeric himself, so if you like its distinctive flavor, feel free to add more.

Version 2: Thai-style pumpkin soup with curry and lemon

The same base, but a completely different character — fresher and more distinctive. Curry brings a spicy aroma, and lemon juice cuts through the sweetness of the pumpkin and coconut.

You need:

• ⅓ roasted base
• 100 ml coconut milk
• about 100 ml broth
• 1.5–2 teaspoons of BIO curry
• 1 tablespoon of BIO lemon juice

This time Michał added almost all the broth at once — after the first version he already knew that the base was thick. Add the curry and lemon juice, blend and check the consistency. It will result in a thinner, more velvety soup than the classic one.

Michał's rating: very fresh and just as good, although the classic one appealed more to his taste.

Version 3: ginger pumpkin soup with pepper

The most distinctive of the three and — as it turned out — the winner of the ranking. Ginger juice gives a fresh spiciness, pepper amps it up, and coconut milk softens everything.

You need:

• ⅓ roasted base
• 100 ml coconut milk
• about 100 ml broth
• 1–3 tablespoons of BIO ginger juice (Michał used about 3)
• a lot of freshly ground black pepper

Blend the vegetables with the milk, broth and pepper. Add the ginger juice at the end and start with one tablespoon — it's practically pure juice from the rhizome, so the spiciness builds up quickly. Ginger is more distinctive in hot soup than in cold, so if you heat the soup, add it after heating and only then adjust the spiciness. Shake the bottle before use, because the starch and ginger particles naturally settle at the bottom.

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Which pumpkin soup won?

Michał couldn't decide between the classic and ginger versions for a long time. In the end, the ginger version took first place, the classic with turmeric and cinnamon second, and the Thai with curry third. If you are cooking for people with different tastes, make all three — the base is the same anyway, and each version is just a few minutes of blending.

Do you have some ginger juice left? Check out the post How to make a ginger shot? 4 recipes for the whole autumn and winter.

What to serve pumpkin soup with?

Creamy soup loves crunchy toppings. Roasted BIO pumpkin seeds, a few drops of pumpkin seed oil or a tablespoon of coconut milk that was left in the can will work. And what do you eat pumpkin soup with? Write in the comments under the video — we'd love to see your ideas.

Most common questions about pumpkin soup with coconut milk

Do you need to peel Hokkaido pumpkin for soup?

No. After roasting, the Hokkaido skin softens and blends with the flesh. It's worth peeling butternut squash and large ordinary pumpkin.

Is it better to roast or boil pumpkin for soup?

Both methods work, but roasted pumpkin has a deeper, slightly caramel flavor, and the soup turns out less watery. Roasting at 200°C takes about 30 minutes.

How much coconut milk should you add to pumpkin soup?

Michał added 100 ml to each version, which is ⅓ of the roasted pumpkin on the tray. One 400 ml can is enough for all three.

What to do if the cream soup turned out too thick or too thin?

If it's too thick, thin it out with broth, adding it about 50 ml at a time. The easiest way to save one that is too thin is by blending the rest of the roasted pumpkin into it.

How long can you store pumpkin soup?

In a closed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The soup can also be frozen — after thawing, just heat it up and blend briefly if the coconut milk has separated.

You'll find the recipe ingredients on ekogram.pl

For all three versions we used our products: BIO coconut milk without guar gum, BIO vegetable broth, turmeric, Ceylon cinnamon, curry, lemon juice and ginger juice. You can read more about the milk itself in the post New packaging, same inside! BIO Coconut Milk in a can Ekogram. Enjoy!

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Video – Pumpkin soup with coconut milk – one base, 3 versions