This soup is my latest favorite soup. It’s creamy, without the dairy, super healthy, filled with minerals and vitamins, and carries a perfect umami taste from the miso and it is gorgeous to look at from the stunning orange of the Kabocha squash.

With the days cooling down, I have been craving warming curry flavors and something cozy for some time now. Something creamy and coconutty and smooth, with a touch of Indian spices. I had some squashes left over from my Winter Squash Roundup post not long ago and wanted to use them, and whipped this up. 

The creamy and pureed soup is dairy free, mild in licorice from the fennel and sweet in flavor from the pear. Since I featured GARA this week in my Visit With… blog, I decided to incorporate their fennel hydrosol, to add more fennel depth of flavor, distilled from organic fennel seeds. The fennel hydrosol of course is completely optional. The fennel hazelnut relish was something I concocted recently and I added chili flakes which gives this dish a little kick. It is a really tasty addition to the soup. Nutritionally, fennel bulb is a good source of Vitamin C, the bulb and the fennel seeds both contain manganese which has been shown to assist in enzyme activation, blood sugar regulation, cellular protection, wound healing and bone development. I love to drink a cup of fennel seed tea nightly because I notice it settles my stomach and benefits my digestion. Just put a spoon full of the seeds into a mesh strainer and pour hot water over the seeds and steep for 6-7 minutes. In the meanwhile enjoy this beautiful seasonal soup. Check out fennel’s many health benefits here.