Butternut-Ginger Bisque

Butternut-Ginger Bisque — a great recipe for chilly autumn or winter days — fancy enough to appear on fancy restaurant menus, but really simple to make at home.

For today’s souping adventure, I’ve selected a nice, basic recipe. You could embellish this recipe in several directions: Add cilantro and coconut milk to go in a Thai direction; add apple and cinnamon to go in a sweet & savory fall harvest direction; whatever… I wanted to catalog a basic recipe for this concept, though, and I was delighted with how delicious this basic version was! It’s been heartily enjoyed here over the past couple days.

The recipe below is based on a recipe I found here on the Whole Foods website. Give it a spin!

Ingredients

Makes about 6 servings.

2 tablespoons olive oil (or butter or coconut oil or whatever)

2 pounds butternut squash (I used one medium-large butternut), peeled and diced into 1-inch chunks

3 large carrots, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (1-inch piece)

6 cups vegetable stock or water* (I used “Better Than Bouillon” to make the stock.)

pinch of ground nutmeg

Ground pepper, to taste

1 scallion, thinly sliced (optional)

*About the stock vs. water: I recommend using some kind of stock for this recipe, as the recipe depends heavily on the base for the richness of its flavor. If you do elect to use water, you’ll probably want to salt the soup to taste before serving.

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Preparation

1) Heat your oil or butter over medium heat in your soup pot.

2) Sauté squash, carrots, onion, and ginger for 3 minutes, until they are lightly browned.

3) Add stock, and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook uncovered, until vegetables are tender.

4) Add nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Purée the soup with a hand-held immersion blender or in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Garnish each bowl with a bit of sliced scallion and a dash of nutmeg. Enjoy!