Winter Veggie Bisque (10 Days of Family Friendly Soups)

This series: I've made a lot of soup in the past few years.  I've come to know what my family will eat and what they won't.  Why don't you put my experience to work for you?!  Hope you find something tasty!  (I think you will!)

10 Days of Family Friendly Soups :: Day 5

I have tried probably about half a dozen or more butternet squash soups.  I don't make the other ones anymore.  This is the best squash soup recipe I have found.  And I've sort of been writing about it ever since I started blogging over two years ago...  (Man, I either need some new material or just embrace the fact that good food is worth revisiting!)  

Winter Veggie Bisque
(a Family Circle Recipe)

Ingredients

1 large onion, peeled and diced

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced

3 carrots, peeled, trimmed, and thinly sliced
2 T. unsalted butter
24 oz. fresh butternut squash, cubed
3 c. vegetable broth
2 T. sugar
1 t. ground ginger
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/8 t. cayenne
1/2 c. heavy cream - or - half and half - or - whole milk (whatever you have!)


Instructions

In a pot, melt butter over medium heat.  Add chopped onion, apple, and carrots.  Cook until soft, approximately 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly.
Stir in squash, broth, sugar, ginger, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne.  
Bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until squash is very tender.
Puree entire soup.  (I prefer a hand-held immersion blender to a traditional counter-top blender)
Once blended, stir in cream and reheat.


Notes

I typically use a little less cayenne than called for, just so it's not too spicy for my kiddos.

I serve this soup with large twice-baked croutons.  (the sea salt and pepper variety are my favorite because they add the perfect savory kick to this sweet soup.)

My children don't agree, but I also think that crumbled feta in this soup tastes amazing!  I was encouraged by a friend to try it even though I couldn't imagine the two tastes together.  She was right - It really is good :) (Hi, Nicole!)

This is a great soup for babies that  have started on baby food!  (really family friendly!)

We all really like this soup and eat it so frequently over the winter, that when I make it, I make four batches - two in  each of two pots.  For our family of 7, I can get three meals out of this.

This soup freezes well.  Just thaw, reheat, and eat!

Eating with diabetes??  Carbohydrate info:  1 cup = 20 carbs.

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* Note: when the 10 Days Series is over, all soup recipes will be available on 

The Soup Savvy Page at the top.  So please feel free to Pin them now, or come back and visit the soup page another time!  You won't miss out on anything! 

This Soup is SO Good, But This is Not a Food Blog

I repeat: This is not a food blog.  And yet I'm strangely drawn to food.  And yet, fully half of my baby-stage-blog posts are about... food.  ("Baby stage" as in "this blog in new and I'm still developing my blogging skills, flexing my blogger muscles, if you will, by writing about food.")  

Today was a big soup day around here, and although I tried three new soups and they turned out great, I simply cannot resist sharing this tried-and-true favorite recipe.  This soup is so good it deserves its own post.  Even though this is not a food blog.  

This soup is so good that today I made a quadruple batch.  

This soup is so good, I sneaked a cup of it right before dinner.  

(See the bags in the background headed for the freezer?  Yippee!)

(WARNING:  This post contains graphic evidence that I use store-bought foods.  Some of it may even be pre-packaged.  View at your own discretion.)  

WINTER VEGGIE BISQUE

(an old Family Circle Recipe, but I don't know how to "link" to things yet, so... sorry.)

Ingredients:

1 lg. onion, peeled, chopped
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, chopped
3 carrots, peeled, chopped
2 T. unsalted butter
2 packages (12 oz. each) frozen cooked winter squash, thawed

   NOTE: I have always used fresh squash, so I cannot speak to the quality of the soup with the frozen - it's  

               probably fine

   OF FURTHER NOTE: I usually buy pre-cut butternut squash, obviously placing convenience over thrift.  

               My son (who prefers this soup above ice cream, candy, and liver and lima beans) and I tried to

               grow butternut squash this past summer with the dream of using it for this soup, and saving a buck  

               or two.  The squash we grew was smaller than a breadbox and slightly larger than a breadcrumb.
(*EDIT* 3 cups vegetable broth!  Can't believe I left this out.  You can't have the best soup in the world w/o
      a main ingredient...)  

2 T. sugar

1 t. ground ginger (if you ran out of this last time you made the soup, you may have to send your husband out
      to the store with all the urgency of a national crisis.  It may be so urgent, he may forget to change
      out of his slippers.  Don't panic - this will not change the flavor of the soup, but leaving the ginger out,
      will.)
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/8 t. cayenne
1/2 c. heavy cream (I use fat free half and half)

Instructions:

In a pot, melt butter over medium heat.  Add chopped onion, apple, and carrots.  Cook 7 minutes until soft.

Stir in squash, broth, sugar, ginger, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 - 8 minutes.  Puree entire soup.  I use a handheld immersion blender because when I previously used my traditional blender I would spend more time cleaning soup off the floor than actually making the soup itself.  Once blended, stir in heavy cream (half and half).  Gently heat through.  

I serve this soup with croutons.  My favorite is the large variety that are sea salt and pepper flavored.  The salty/spicy croutons are great with the sweetness of the soup! 

So, my advice to you is make this soup and I'm pretty sure you'll love it.  If you do make it, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!  (But don't forget - This isn't a food blog.  OK?)