Spicy Opo Squash Soup with Noodles

Delicious Spicy Opo Squash Soup with Noodles - perfectly creamy with the delicate flavours of coconut milk

I know what you are wondering, what on earth is an Opo Squash - it's a bit like an oversized courgette (zucchini), but with a pale firmer skin. Depending on the size of the squash, it tends to be seedy in the centre. So I peel, cut in half, scoop out any big seeds from the centre and then chop into chunks ready to make this soup.

Other names for this type of squash are bottle gourd, Cucuzza (reminds me of The BFG), Tasmania Bean or Snake Gourd and can look slightly different depending on where it is grown.

As with any time of squash, the Opo Squash is a vegetables on Slimming Eats and a great addition to this soup. They are extremely low in calories and packed with vitamins.

How can I make this Soup if I can't find any Opo Squash?

That's really easy, just replace the Opo Squash with some courgette (zucchini) and you can enjoy this soup. I've made it with both in the past and there isn't much difference in taste.

For the flavour, I make up a lovely curry paste myself in my Mortar and Pestle from lemongrass, curry powder, tomato paste, fresh chilli, garlic and ginger. Amazing flavours for this type of soup.

Any kind of soup or curry with these kinds of flavour really needs that umami (savoury taste) flavour and for that, we use fish sauce. Don't worry if you don't like fish, the soup doesn't end up tasting of fish, it just gives amazing flavour to the broth.

For the coconut milk, I recommend using light canned rather than from a carton. Carton coconut milk tends to be more for drinking and pouring on cereals etc in place of dairy milk and doesn't give quite the same creaminess that you will get from the canned varieties. I like to use Aroy-d coconut milk as it has no thickening agents, or preservatives, the ingredients are just coconut extract and water. But any light coconut milk is fine. They all have a similar value, but just double check the one you use.

I blend ¾ of the soup in my Nutri Ninja Blender with Auto IQ   once ready. This blender is amazing. The auto IQ technology feature, mean it blends to a set pattern depending on what it is you are making. There is also an optional add-on for a food processor bowl, which is perfect for chopping and grating vegetables. Sauces and soups are literally so smooth, once completed with this amazing kitchen gadget.

By not blending all the soup, you still keep some chunks of the vegetables, which makes the soup more hearty. But if you prefer an all smooth soup, feel to blend it all.

Don't worry though if you don't have a full-size blender like mine. A stick immersion blender, like this Koölle Electric Powerful 3-in-1 800 Watt Hand Stick Blender will work just as well.

For the noodles, I just used egg noodles, as you can through them into the soup and they don't need to be cooked first, simmering them in the soup will cook them perfectly. If however, you are gluten-free, I recommend using rice noodles, but it is best to cook those separately and stir them into the soup at the end, as they can be a lot more sticky.

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If you love soup recipes like this one, I also have these other delicious soup recipes below: 

• Loaded Baked Potato Soup
• Turkey Taco Soup
• Spicy Roasted Parsnip and Sweet Potato Soup
• Vegetable and Pearl Barley Soup
• Chicken Butternut Squash Coconut Curry Soup
• Chicken, Bean and Rice Soup
• Chicken and Vegetable Soup
• Split Pea and Bacon Soup
• Spicy Sweet Potato, Red Pepper and Carrot Soup
• Spicy Chicken and Vegetable Soup
• Sweetcorn and Leek Soup

and if that's not enough to choose from, don't forget my FULL RECIPE INDEX with over 500+ delicious Slimming Eats Recipes.

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WHAT KITCHEN ITEMS DO I NEED TO MAKE THIS SPICY OPO SQUASH SOUP WITH NOODLES.