Pumpkin and Acorn Squash Laksa #SoupSwappers

Here we are at the November Soup Saturday Swappers event. Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm started this event and, every month, I get a new array of soup recipes to put in my to-try pile. And this month, Ashley of Cheese Curd in Paradise is hosting as we explore soups featuring pumpkins or squash.

Ashley writes, "Perfect time to cook with these seasonal ingredients. Get creative with an pumpkin or squash ingredients- or maybe a combination!"

I just made a pumpkin stew inside a beautiful blue pumpkin! If I had known...I would have saved it for this event. You can see my Jarrahdale Pumpkin Posole: here. But I loved Ashley's idea of mixing pumpkin and acorn squash. So, I went with that.

Before I get to my offering, here's the rest of the #SoupSwappers crew...

An InLinkz Link-up

Pumpkin Laska

I opted to share a Malaysian-inspired soup with our two favorite squashes: a pumpkin and an acorn squash. We love that this is creamy, coconuty, fishy, and has noodles. It's so filling!

Ingredients

• 1 small pumpkin
• 1 small acorn squash
• 2 T  olive oil, divided
• 1 T butter
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
• 1" knob fresh ginger, grated
• 1 C fennel, trimmed and diced
• 1 C carrots, diced
• 6 C homemade stock (I used a fish stock)
• 1 T orgainc peanut butter
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 T fish sauce
• 1 t ground turmeric
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1 t ground paprika
• 1 (13 ounce) can organic coconut milk
• 2 to 3 fillets firm white fish (I had some local lingcod)
• 1/2 C fresh cilantro, chopped + more for garnish
• 1/4 C fresh mint, chopped
• noodles (I used organic rice ramen noodles)

Procedure

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Slice squashes in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and strands. Drizzle with 1 T olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Invert into your baking dish or a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast until tender, approximately for 55 to 60 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a large souppot, melt butter in 1 T olive oil. Add the garlic and ginger. Cook till fragrant and beginning to brown. Stir in the fennel and carrots. Cook till beginning to soften. Pour in the fish stock and bring to a boil.

Whisk in the peanut butter until smooth. Pour in the tamari, fish sauce, and coconut milk. Bring that to a simmer. Whisk in the turmeric, cumin, and paprika. Add the fish fillets and poach until they turn opaque and begin to flake apart.

Add in your noodles and cook according to the package directions. Mine cooked in 4 minutes. In the meantime, peel the cube the pumpkin and squash. You won't use it all, so reserve what's not used and make puree. Just before serving, stir the chopped cilantro and mint into the soup.

To serve, place noodles in the bottom of your bowl - I used mini cocottes  - ladle broth and chunks of fish and pumpkin over the noodles. Garnish with more cilantro and serve immediately.