Curried Kabocha Squash Soup

Photo by Willow Arlen of Will Cook for Friends.

*

This week's farm share from Glade Road Growing includes a sunshine kabocha squash. Rob Johnston developed this variety over the span of nearly twenty years of hand pollination and released it to the commercial market in 2004. In the 1970’s Johnston started by crossing two orange kabochas, the red kuri and golden nugget.  Later in the 1980’s Johnston crossed the most desirable offspring of this work with a green kabocha known as home delight, which was known to have a desirable sweet and dry flesh.

*

Serves 4

This soup  will keep for about a week in the fridge, or can be frozen.

Ingredients:

1 kabocha squash (about 2 lbs)
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp    cardamon

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground turmeric

 1/8 tsp.  mustard

 1/8 tsp.   red pepper flakes

2 cups water
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
sea salt, to taste
fresh cilantro, for garnish
wedges of lime, for serving

Greek yogurt for garnish (or coconut milk for vegan version)

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  Remove the stem, and cut the squash into wedges. Scoop out the seeds and stringy insides, and discard them. Place the wedges cut-side up onto a foil lined baking sheet, drizzle with 1  tablespoon of olive or coconut oil, and sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt. Roast the squash for 30-40 minutes, or until tender. Remove from the oven and let rest until it is cool enough to handle, then scoop the meat away from the flesh.

3.  In a large pot or dutch oven, saute the onion with 1 tablespoon of oil for 5-7 minutes, or until translucent. Add the garlic, ginger, spices and a pinch of salt, and cook for another 1-2 minutes, or until the spices are fragrant.

4.  In a blender, combine water with coconut and blend until smooth.  Add squash and spiced onions and puree until smooth. You may need to do this in batches. Return to the pot and add additional liquid as needed to reach the desired consistency.

5.  Serve with fresh cilantro, drizzle of yogurt or coconut milk and and wedges of lime.