Fall in July

Last night I experimented with dinner and it turned out really yummy! So of course I have to share my creation. This recipe is out of my comfort zone so it was fun to just think about how spices would taste together, take a risk and see how it worked. So here's what I did.
I'll call it Roasted Pumpkin Coconut Soup



*preheat oven to 350 degrees

• 2-3 pound roasted pumpkin (or a large can of pumpkin puree)

• 1 Red Bell pepper
• 1/4 can of coconut milk (low fat)
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon Oil (I used Olive oil)
  
• 1 can of Vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup Brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Curry powder (to taste, more for a stronger taste, I liked the curry to be subtle)
• Dash of Cayenne pepper (again you can add more for more of a kick)
• Dash of Cinnamon
• Dash of black pepper (to taste)
• Dash of Salt (to taste)
  

(for garnish) Optional (it taste great without these too)

• Sour cream
• Green onion sliced
• Parmesan cheese

• Bread bowl (optional) (it taste good in a bowl too)
  

1- Separate roasted pumpkin from skin (discard skin), or open can of pumpkin puree.
2- Slice Red Bell Pepper into slices, chop onion into chunks and peel garlic, toss veggies in 1 tablespoon olive oil, spread out on a baking sheet, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and put into a 350 degree oven for 20 Min's.
3- Put pumpkin, butter, brown sugar, coconut milk and vegetable broth into blender, blend until smooth, add roasted veggies to blender and puree. (if it all doesn't fit at once that's fine, just do separate batches in the blender)
4- Pour pureed mixture into a pot and turn stove on medium heat, stir often so it doesn't "pop out" on you. Stir in the curry powder, cayenne, cinnamon, black pepper and salt to taste.
5- Cook until heated all the way through
6- Spoon into bread bowls and top with a little sour cream, green onion and Parmesan.
7-Enjoy!
* you could sub a butternut or acorn squash for the pumpkin if you wanted to.

Paul didn't think this would taste very good just by looking at it but when he tasted it he loved it! He ate seconds and deemed it restaurant worthy (haha nothing like giving a little positive reinforcement to keep the meals coming his way... smart man :)) Anyways I had fun experimenting, hopefully you'll give it a try.