Spicy Butternut Squash Bisque blends roasted butternut squash with onion, garlic, jalapeño, and a touch of ginger, creating a velvety soup with a spicy finish.
Thank you Milk Means More – United Dairy Industry of Michigan for sponsoring this recipe! All opinions are my own.
Now that the weather is a bit blustery, the leaves are beginning to take on vibrant hues of yellows, oranges, and warm reds, it’s officially Fall in my mind. Ah, October…how I’ve missed you! Come October, I feel completely justified in working soup recipes back into the weekly menu plans. Soup & Bread Night is A Regular Thing in the Comfortably Domestic house. After spending countless hours braving the elements on a soccer field each week, my family eagerly anticipates warming up with a steamy bowl of soup.
Well, four-sixths of us look forward to hot soup weather, because we know a good thing when we taste it. The other two-sixths have food texture aversions, making them highly suspicious of any food that shouldn’t be eaten with their fingers.
To reconcile the two food camps, I’ve been creating soups that can be pureed smooth. Then, I encourage the picky eaters to eat them by dredging slices of crusty artisan bread throughout.
Spicy Butternut Squash Bisque blends roasted squash with onion, garlic, and a bit of spice, creating velvety soup with oomph.
The creamy soup is the perfect texture for dipping hunks of bread, ensuring that the entire family will eat it.
Food Dork Trivia Alert: a bisque usually refers to a highly seasoned soup made with shellfish shells simmered in a flavorful broth, which is then thickened with either rice or a dairy-based roux. Creamy soups with vibrant vegetables are also a bisque.
Spicy Butternut Squash Bisque is a family favorite, because the addition of jalapeño and bold spices bring great flavor. I love the spicy back-heat on the finish! Even my spice-reluctant kiddos are big fans of the candy-like butternut squash with a little extra oomph. If you can take more heat, a drizzle of fire roasted jalapeno cream makes the meal that much more sassy.
Here’s the Spicy Butternut Squash Bisque with Fire Roasted Jalapeño Cream recipe. Enjoy!
♥♥♥
Kirsten Kubert
Yields 6
Roasted butternut squash blends beautifully with onion, garlic, jalapeño, and a touch of ginger for a velvety soup with a spicy finish.
20 minPrep Time
40 minCook Time
1 hrTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 Tbs. salted butter
- 1 ½ C. yellow onion, peeled and diced (1 medium)
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
- 3 lbs. whole butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 ½ C. low sodium chicken (or vegetable) stock
- 1 dried bay leaf
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ½ tsp. ground cumin
- ½ tsp. kosher salt (or more, to taste)
- ¼ tsp. black pepper (or more, to taste)
- 1 ½ C. 2% milk
- ½ C. half and half
- 1 jalapeño pepper
- ½ C. reduced fat sour cream
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a 4 quart Dutch oven set over medium heat. Once the butter begins to froth, sauté the onions, jalapeño and garlic until the onions soften and begin to appear translucent. (About 3 to 4 minutes.) Add the cubed butternut squash, chicken stock, bay leaf, ginger, cumin, salt, and pepper; increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
- Once the soup is boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the squash is very soft, but not falling apart. (About 25 to 30 minutes.)
- While the soup simmers, roast another jalapeño directly over an open flame until the skin blisters and blackens. (Blackening may be done directly over a burner on a gas stove top, or on a baking sheet set under a broiler in the oven. Both methods take about 3 to 4 minutes for the pepper to blacken.) Place the blackened jalapeño into a brown paper bag, and then fold the top closed. Let the pepper rest in the bag for 10 minutes, so as the heat from the process may steam the skin, thus making it easier to remove. Rub the outer skin away from the jalapeño with a paper towel. Remove the stem and seeds before dicing the pepper. Puree the jalapeño along with the sour cream in a blender or food processor; set it aside.
- Once the squash is soft, remove the soup mixture from the heat. Remove and discard the bay leaf, and then puree the soup mixture in batches in a blender or food processor, until it is very smooth. Return the puree to the Dutch oven. Stir in the milk, and half and half to incorporate. Simmer over low heat until the soup is heated through. (About 5 minutes.)
- Serve the soup with a spoonful of jalapeño cream drizzled over top.
Comments