Thai Butternut Squash Soup with Corinader (cilantro to Americans!) Pesto

This soup is so good. Super filling and not to hard. I made it for some friends the other day. It's from a recipe I have altered to fit my tastes and diet. I forgot to take a photo of it which is a shame because it looks very pretty when you add the green pesto in swirls on top of the orange soup. I used to cook prawns to add to this or tofu. You need...

1 butternut squash or pumpkin works good too
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 big tablespoon of Thai red or green curry paste (I found some good stuff with no sugar!)
1 can of coconut milk
sugar snap peas or green beans
dried mushroom or fresh
julienned carrot
chili power or cayenne
ground cumin
ground coriander
sliced red onion

for the pesto
hand full of fresh coriander
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil or flaxseed oil
lemon juice and zest

Preheat your oven to 180C and get a oven tray or cookie sheet. Chop the butternut squash into 4 pieces and put them face down on the lightly oiled tray. Bake until soft.

Get a good pan and fry the onion in a bit of olive oil, add the garlic and cook for a little bit longer. Throw in the curry paste and some salt. Add about a cup or two of water and turn it down. Scoop out the squash and add to the pan. Cook for a little bit and then use a mixer to blend it up. A hand wand type will work or a blender. Or a fork if you have none. Be careful at this stage and make sure you turn the heat down as the thick squash soup will boil and shoot hot blasts of soup up in the air! Add the can of coconut milk and more water if it's too thick. Add your veggies of any kind you like really or none at all. While this is simmering away on a low heat make the pesto.

Throw all of the pesto ingredients into a blender or use a hand mixer and your done.

Serve up in bowls and add the ground coriander and cumin on top along with some thin sliced red onion. Oh and a bit of chili powder as well. Then pour the pesto on top in a swirl and serve. Make sure you save a bit of pesto to add halfway through eating as it's so good!