Green Curry Soup with Roasted Red Onion Squash

I remember watching a Jamie Oliver episode on the TV, possibly Jamie at Home because I remember the fairy lights in the kitchen, where he made a quick and easy green curry soup with butternut squash. There are a few things I remember about the recipe, one was that he didn't peel the squash saying the skin was edible if cooked long enough to soften it, two that I had never had squash and green curry cooked this way before; and three that it was so good I cooked it the evening after I watched the episode. 

I wanted to make this recipe again but can only vaguely remember the recipe - did he make the green curry from fresh or using a ready-made paste? I remember he cooked the rice in the curry to thicken the sauce and I remember when I tried it, it was less soupy and more wet-curry with rice like his mulligatawny recipe in Jamie's Great Britain. Everything else was a bit of a blur and the internet this time had failed me! 

So I decided to make my own version of this. I used a green curry paste that I bought from the local Thai supermarket near my house as a base with coconut milk. I doubled the quantities I usually use so that I could cook the rice in the curry liquid. Then for vegetables, I added bamboo shoots, some spinach and leftover romanesco broccoli for a bit of colour. Instead of adding the squash to the soup though, I peeled them, chopped them up, drizzled them with a bit of oil and salt and pepper and roasted them in the oven. Why? Because I somewhat remember this recipe lacking in interesting textures last time I made it as the squash was soft. Roasting it still gives me soft squash but the darkened outside adds a bit of crunch to the dish. 

So here's the finished result, and you know what it works! I used red onion squash which has a superior flavour to butternut and much sweeter. I personally like the sweetness, as I think it compliments the saltiness from the fish sauce, the creaminess from the coconut and the heat from the chillies in the paste. And don't you think the plate looks beautiful? Try it!

NB - to make this recipe vegan, substitute the fish sauce for a combination of light soy sauce and mushroom sauce (ratio 80:20) to create the same umami flavouring. 

Ingredients

1 red onion (also known as red kuri) Squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch chunks

2 tbsp Green Curry paste

1 can Coconut Milk

1/3 cup jasmine Rice

handful of Spinach, rinsed and roughly chopped

1 can Bamboo Shoots, drained

1/2 Romansco Broccoli, separated into florets

Cooking Oil

Salt & Pepper

Fish Sauce

Recipe

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees. Put your squash onto a baking tray and drizzle with oil, salt and pepper. Cook in the oven tossing every 15 minutes for 20 minutes, or until softened. Red onion squash cooks a little quicker than butternut squash, so keep an eye on it. 

Heat some oil in a heavy bottom saucepan and fry your green curry paste until fragrant then add the coconut milk. Stir well to combine the sauce and season with a bit of fish sauce. Let it come to the boil, then add the rice and cook for 15 minutes. Rice should be just about done now so add your vegetables starting with the broccoli. Cook for 4 minutes then in the last minute, add the spinach and the bamboo shoots. Once the spinach has wilted, check the seasoning and add a bit more fish sauce if it's lacking seasoning. 

Don't wait around once the spinach is cooked because it will lose its green colouring and become brown and unappetising. So serve straight away in a small bowl with the roasted squash on top. Delicious.