Thai-spiced Pumpkin Soup & Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

This delicious seasonal soup from 101Cookbooks.com is simple but unique. You can buy Thai curry paste at any Asian specialty store. Keep in mind that Thai curry pastes have differing strengths. Start with a teaspoon and then build from there until the soup has a level of spiciness and flavor that works for your palette. Top with toasted pumpkin seeds.

1 medium pumpkin or 2 small pumpkins 

3 tablespoons butter, coconut or olive oil
fine grain sea salt

1 14-ounce can coconut milk
1 teaspoon (or more) red Thai curry paste
water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place the oven racks in the middle. Carefully cut each pumpkin or squash into halves or quarters leaving the skin on. Scrape the stringy pulp and seeds from the middle of the pumpkin. Slather the remaining flesh of the pumpkin or squash with oil, sprinkle generously with salt, place on a baking sheet skin sides down, and place in the oven. Roast for about an hour or until it is tender throughout.

When the pumpkin or squash is cool enough to handle scrap the flesh off the skin and scoop into a large pot over medium high heat. Add the coconut milk and curry paste and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and puree with a hand blender, you should have a very thick base at this point. Now add water a cup at a time pureeing between additions until the soup is the consistency you prefer - a low sodium vegetable stock would work instead of water as well. Bring up to a simmer again, and add more curry paste if you like.

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon fine grained sea salt
1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse pulp off pumpkin seeds. In a medium-sized bowl mix together the pumpkin seeds, salt, and cayenne and toss well. Place seeds in a single layer across a baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until seeds are golden. Sprinkle with a bit more cayenne pepper.