Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup store-bought laksa paste
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 800 ml coconut milk
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 800 g pumpkin, peeled and sliced
• 400 g broccolini, trimmed and chopped
• 250 g dried vermicelli rice noodles, cooked
• 300 g silken tofu, sliced
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 cup coriander leaves
• 2 long red chilies, sliced

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over high. Add the laksa paste and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.
2. Add the stock, coconut milk and fish sauce and bring to the boil. Add the pumpkin and cook for 12 minutes or until tender. Add the broccolini. Cook for 2 minutes more, until tender.
3. Divide the noodles between bowls and spoon over the soup. Top with the tofu, green onion, coriander and chilies to serve.

Donna Hay has 22 titles to her name, but the Australian cookbook queen’s latest is also her biggest: a 400-page best-of collection brimming with updated family favourites and desirable new discoveries. Beautifully photographed (Donna was a food stylist), the 300 recipes in The New Classics are supplemented by how-to sections. Learn the principles of cooking meats, preparing sushi and baking shortbread, all to perfection! – Chris Daniels