Pumpkin soup with coconut milk

This is one of our family's favorite soups. I cook it all autumn and part of winter. For pumpkin soups, actually for most pumpkin dishes, I usually use Hokkaido pumpkins. They are the most compact, flavorful, and overall the nicest pumpkins, if you ask me. Besides, it's really cool because you don't have to peel them. They ripen already at the end of summer, and if stored properly, we use them almost until the end of January.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 of a medium-sized or 1/2 of a smaller pumpkin
• 1 can of coconut milk (400 ml)

PREPARATION METHOD

As is fitting for creamy soups, the process is quite simple. In melted coconut oil (which can be replaced with regular butter or olive oil), slowly sauté the salted onion, add roughly chopped garlic, and pumpkin cut into approximately two-centimeter pieces. Sauté a bit more and then add about 700 milliliters of water.

Once the pumpkin softens, which takes about 15 minutes, add the coconut milk, bring everything to a boil once again, and let it simmer for a while. Then, pour the soup into a blender or use an immersion blender to blend it to a smooth consistency. And that's all!

Additionally, Hokkaido pumpkins pair well with coriander seeds, chili, roasted pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin oil, as well as with ginger. Sometimes I add a carrot, potato, or cooked chickpeas to the soup, but most often I make it with just the basic ingredients.