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This soup is a wonderful winter warmer and perfect for this time of year. It’s really easy to prepare and packed full of flavour. It’s a hearty soup so a meal in itself and if you want to bulk it out even more, you can add a couple of handfuls of basmatic rice or some broken up noodles.

Ingredients

Zest of 1 lime
2-3 chilis
2 cloves garlic peeled and sliced
2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger peeled
3 tablespoons finely chopped lemongrass
A large bunch fresh coriander including stalks
1 heaping teaspoon five-spice powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large white onion, peeled and roughly chopped
Water or chicken or vegetable stock
1 medium sized orange pumpkin or large butternut squash
1 x 400g can of coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime
4 spring onions
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Pierce the top of your pumpkin and place in a preheated oven (200 C). Roast in the oven for 45 – 60 minutes until the pumpkin is softened and cooked through.

2. Whilst your pumpkin is cooking blitz all of the other ingredients in the food processor until you have a fine pulp.

3. Gently heat your oil in a large deep pan and slowly fry the spice pulp. Keep watching and stirring all the time, you don’t want it to burn or the spices will taste bitter. This takes about 5 minutes.

4. When your pumpkin is cooked cut it in half and scoop out the seeds taking care not to remove the flesh. When your pumpkin is seed free, scoop out the flesh and pop it into your food processor with the spice mix. Then add your tin of coconut milk (keeping a couple of table spoons back for serving) and then blitz.

5. Decant your mix back into your pan and add as much water or stock to get the soup the consistency that you like.

6. Gently simmer for 15-20 minutes and then your spicy laksa is ready to be served with a drizzle of coconut milk and a light sprinkling of shredded spring onion.

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