Spicy Pumpkin Soup
De Arbol (Capsicum Annuum) means tree like in Spanish. The plant has thick, upright, woody stems and the chile itself is narrow, curved and bright red in color. Believed to be closely related to the pequin, the De Arbol is thin fleshed, with tannic, smoky, grassy flavor and searing heat. This chile has a heat range of 7.5 on the heat scale of 1-10. De Arbol Chiles are comparable to a Cayenne Pepper. Scoville heat units 15,000 to 30,000.
Suggested Use:
De Arbol is a hot chile and a staple in Southwest kitchens. Add some heat to your next salsa or Mexican dish. Be adventurous and add them to your next stew or chili along with the other spices Add some heat to your next salsa or Mexican dish.
Ingredients:
2 lb pumpkin (I like to use butternut or Kent)
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup light coconut milk
1 large onion, diced
1 Thai birds-eye or de arbol chile, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp roughly chopped coriander
1″ fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, then cut up the pumpkin into fat wedges. Place them on a lined baking tray, drizzle over a little olive oil, salt and cracked pepper.
Roast for 40-50 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the middle can push through the skin with no resistance. Separate out the roasted pumpkin flesh from the skin and set aside, then prepare your onion, garlic, ginger and chile. Sauté the onion, garlic, ginger and chile till the onion is translucent and softened, then add the roasted pumpkin flesh and coriander and stir through.
Add the stock and coconut milk and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer over low heat for an hour to reduce the liquid by about half.
Once the liquid has reduced, blend it all together till completely smooth, then put it back in the pot (or just leave it all in the pot if you have one of those fabulous stick blenders) and stir through the vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
Now you can serve this as is, but you can also serve it with a dollop of natural yogurt (or sour cream), as well as some spicy toasted pumpkin seeds and a few snipped chives.
From insanitytheory.net