CURRIED PUMPKIN BISQUE

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Five ingredients and about 25 or 30 minutes is all it takes to whip up this super easy Curried Pumpkin Bisque. I love this bisque because it’s savory. So many of the pumpkin—and squash like butternut for that matter—soups and bisques I’ve had are on the sweeter side, using warming spices like nutmeg and cinnamon you would find in pumpkin pie. There might even be apple or maple syrup in the recipe. They’re good, but I tend to prefer savory to sweet, unless I’m really in the mood for something sweet and then I’ve going for the chocolate cake, bowl of ice cream, piece of pie, brownie, and so forth, NOT the pumpkin bisque. Let’s get to it.

So when I say 5 ingredients, I’m not including extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. These are pantry staples I always have on hand and I highly recommend you have them too.

CURRIED PUMPKIN BISQUE

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree (I really like Trader Joe’s Organic Pumpkin for this soup. I stock up on it every fall when it returns to the stores, although any good organic canned pumpkin would work as well.)

3 cups good organic chicken stock or broth. Substitute vegetable broth if you want to make it vegetarian.

1 cup organic whole milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat some olive oil in a cast iron or saute pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and cook, stirring often, until they’re translucent and softened. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the curry powder, stirring it into the onions. Continue cooking for about 3 minutes, then take off the heat.

Add the curry onion mixture, chicken stock and milk to a blender, then blend just long enough to get a smooth consistency, only a minute or so, it won’t take long.

IMPORTANT BLENDER NOTE: If your blender is a smaller classic size like my old-school Oster, you’ll only be able to add 2 cups or so of the stock and milk at a time. You’ll have to blend in 2 batches, easy enough.

Pour the blended bisque into a pot and heat over medium, stirring occasionally until heated through.

Serve in bowls or mugs— like it in mugs, it’s highly drinkable. Also, it’s great as is, but you can dress it up with a shaving of parmesan cheese or a little dollop of creme fraiche and sprinkling of chives.

The next time you’re in the mood for a nice warming mug or bowl of soup, give this quick and really easy pumpkin bisque a try, and let me know what you think.

A VERSION OF RIBOLLITA...

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Hot soup might not seem a likely addition to your repertoire heading into summer, but facing meat shortages even those among us who haven’t readily made attempts to embrace a more plant-based diet may be finding it necessary, at least in the near future. This version of Ribolitta, a spin on the classic Tuscan bread soup, keeps the bread, a la Sally Albright, on the side. (IF you’re scratching your head you need to watch When Harry Met Sally, like right now, stop watching things like Tiger King, please.)

So lets get to it. This is one of those “meal in a bowl” soups and you can make it 100% vegetarian by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. You could also skip the white wine by adding more broth, but why, it adds flavor, I love cooking with wine… let me re-phrase, I love wine.

A VERSION OF RIBOLLITA

2 15 oz. cans of white beans (cannellini, great northern, navy, whatever you have or can find, sometimes they’re just called white beans.)

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

4 to 5 shallots, chopped medium-fine

5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced

2 to 3 carrots, 2 if they’re medium/big, 3 if they’re skinny. I actually look for skinnier carrots, I find them to be more tender.

½ cup fresh sage, leaves only, chopped

3 or 4 sprigs of fresh thyme tied together with kitchen string for easy removal later. No one likes twigs in their soup.

2 bay leaves, fresh if you have them, otherwise dried works too

½ cup sauvignon blanc, or any dry white wine

2 ½ cups good chicken broth

Half a bunch of swiss chard, stems chopped into half inch pieces, leaves rolled and cut chiffonade

To Finish:

¼ cup heavy cream

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Empty beans into a colander and let drain. Meanwhile, heat olive oil and butter in a stock pot over medium heat. Add the shallots and carrots and let cook, stirring often until softened and the shallots are transparent. Add sage, thyme, bay leaves and swiss chard stems and continue cooking for another 3 minutes or so then add the minced garlic, followed by the wine and beans about a minute later. Let that cook down for a couple minutes then add the chicken broth.

Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, then add the swiss chard leaves. Continue simmering for another 10 minutes. Take off the heat, fish out the bay leaves and thyme stems and add the cream, stirring to combine. Give it a taste and season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

Ladle yourself a bowl, drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on top and pair with a nice piece of toast, on the side, for dipping. It’s healthy, meatless, inexpensive and delicious. Enjoy!