It’s hard to believe that Halloween is tomorrow! Costumes, caramel apple dipping, candy filled jack-o-lanterns and warm-to-the-belly hearty meals have been aplenty all week. If you’re looking for that perfect first course for dinner this season or even a comforting mid-day fall inspired lunch option you MUST try this tasty pumpkin bisque. Seth’s recipes always impress me, but this one was cause for not one but two servings (I actually licked the bowl…no seriously, no shame!). This soup is so so tasty and I can’t wait to serve it to loved ones myself this season! Enjoy!
Pumpkin Bisque:
Ingredients:
- 1 sugar pie pumpkin
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pinch brown sugar
- 3 sprigs thyme
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 sage leaves
- 2 table spoons honey
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
Directions:
Pre-heat Oven to 400 degrees F
Cut the pumpkin in half, length-wise and remove all seeds. Place the two halves on a baking sheet or roasting pan flesh side up. Drizzle some olive oil over the pumpkin halves and add a pinch each of salt, pepper, brown sugar and nutmeg over the halves. Place the thyme sprigs whole onto the halves and roast for 1 hour. When done, the pumpkin flesh should be pulling inward away from the outer shell of the pumpkin and should be very soft. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and let it cool completely.
Once cooled, remove the pumpkin flesh from its shell and place the roasted pumpkin into a food processor or blender and process or blend until the pumpkin is the consistency of a puree. You might need to add a little water to help the pumpkin reach this consistency. Just be careful to not add too much at a time. Once you have reached the ideal consistency, set aside.
Over medium heat, add a few glugs of olive oil to a heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven. Dice the onion and garlic cloves and add to the oil, let the onions and garlic sweet but not brown. Add 1 sage leaf chopped, and salt/pepper the mixture and let sauté for 5 minutes. Add this mixture plus 2 teaspoons of honey to the pumpkin puree and blend or process until all is incorporated. At this point you should have the base for your bisque. Taste to make sure the salt versus sweet versus heat coincides to your liking. Add the puree back into the pot, stir in the heavy cream and bring up the temperature over low temp for 5-10 minutes.
Serve with chopped toasted hazelnuts and finely chopped sage. I like to drizzle additional heavy cream over the top of the soup once it is in the bowl for effect.
FF Collective : {photography : Monica Hines | food & recipe development : Seth Hines | styling & art direction : Jenn Elliott Blake | tabletop decor : Ludlow Home | custom graphics & titles : Amy Moore
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