Both the soup and the curry paste freeze well. A sweet, light, flavoursome soup, with a spicy Thai flavour, it’s the sort of thing you can make in your kitchen that you’d pay a fortune for in a restaurant. You will need some nice bread to soak it up . For the coconut milk, you could buy a 400ml can or you could use Maggi powdered coconut, though the packet instructions are a little heavy handed; we've found 40g of powder to 400mls of water to be perfect.

Curry paste

1–2 small red chillies according to taste, chopped very finely

Zest of 1 lime grated (save juice for later)

1 thumb sized chunk of ginger, finely chopped

1 heaped tbsp chopped coriander stalks

½ tsp cumin seeds (dry fry the seeds, then grind in a pestle and mortar)

½ tsp ground coriander or coriander seeds with the same treatment as the cumin

1 clove of garlic (optional)

Soup

400ml coconut milk

500ml hot Vegetable Nage or Stock

3 tbspns coriander leaves, chopped

1 lemon grass stalk, bruised

1 butternut squash, about 500g peeled weight, in 2cm dice (also works brilliantly half and half with sweet potato)

20 large prawns, raw or cooked

Juice of 1 lime

1 bunch of spring onions, finely chopped

• Whiz the curry paste ingredients in a blender with a splash of coconut milk or lime juice. This can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for a week if you double up the ingredients and make a big amount of it

• In a wok or large saucepan, lightly fry the spring onions for 2 to 3 minutes. Add 6 teaspoons of the curry paste, and fry for 30 seconds. Add the coconut milk and Nage, add the lemon grass and simmer for 5 minutes.

• Add the squash and simmer for 10 – 12 minutes, or until it is just tender. Allow to cool for 20 minutes, remove the lemon grass, then whizz smooth in a blender

• Add the prawns and cook for a further 5 minutes, or 10 minutes if raw.

• Garnish with a hint of lime juice and soy sauce to taste and serve in bowls, topped with plenty of chopped coriander