Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Butternut Bisque – To Roast or Not to Roast

That is the question, and for me the answer depends on what else is on the menu besides this delicious butternut bisque. 

When you roast butternut, you caramelize, and concentrate the flesh, and get something sweeter, starchier, and richer, which is perfect if you’re enjoying it as a meal, but maybe not such a great thing if it’s going to be followed by additional courses.

The last thing you want when you start a big holiday meal with a soup course are your guests feeling full when they finish. Of course, as with all things food, this is highly subjective, but I did want to share my thought process on skipping the roasting step.

I really enjoyed the festive, seasonally appropriate garnish seen herein, but if you are going for more of a stand-alone meal, it’s pretty amazing embellished with a handful of crispy bacon, and spoon of crème fraiche. So, whether you roast or not; whether you’re going to serve at some fancy feast, or just some chilly Tuesday night, I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 6 portions:
1 butternut squash (about 2 lbs)
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, diced
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 quart chicken broth
pinch of cayenne
1/2 cup heavy cream or crème fraiche (plus more to swirl on top)
2 tablespoons maple syrup, or to taste
chives and pomegranate to garnish

27 comments:

Unknown said...

Did I imagine the tablespoon of tomato paste?

Unknown said...

Am I the only one that stopped by for the particulars on how to "roast a butternut squash"?

Unknown said...

If we were to do this as a main course and roast the butternut squash, how long would I need to roast it and at what temperature? Thank you!

Unknown said...

Chef, I’ve been following you for over a year and enjoy cooking a lot of your recipes. I made your carnitas with the fire roasted salsa at the fire station and the guys loved it. Two questions, is there a difference between this ‘bisque’ and regular soup or are those two words interchangeable? Second question, what would be a good dinner for the main course if you served this up as an appetizer? Thanks

Vinny

Unknown said...

take the seeds out and roast at 350 until fork tender. Rub them with butter or olive oil first if you want

Eileen said...

I love butternut squash soup, I will definitely give it a try!

Unknown said...

Why list the ingredients without directions? I know the directions exist on AllRecipes but so do the ingredients yet not here. Now, I have to go to AllRecipes.

Michele Cryan said...

Just made CJ's mushroom soup and it was AMAZING!! This one looks nearly as good!

Unknown said...

Yeah I'm also pretty interested on how to roast the butternut squash, would be nice to see some instructions on that.

Daryl said...

The chef has already posted a video of how to make roasted butternut squash soup. And it is fantastic!

http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2015/09/roasted-butternut-squash-soup-legend-of.html

Louise said...

This looks tasty and so colorful. What kind of peeler are you using? I need a new one.
Cheers!
Louise

A. said...

Chef John!

Remember what you said in this video https://youtu.be/_1uQLgNSvSY?t=20
2017 is almost over, where is that kpop video?

DMH Jr said...

Same question roasting squash particulars. Temp and time?

cookinmom said...

Pressure Cooker here we come!!!

Joseph D said...

To roast the squash set oven to 400F and roast for about an hour.
Here is Chef John's video on roasted butternut soup https://youtu.be/AlRqh21CfHI

Bill Brissman said...

Thanks for the ideas as always. I did it as more of a main course and added not only diced ham but also - since it is just thick enough to support them, some chopped pistachios. After all, I am the Jabba the Hut of my butternut!

Christianne said...

I tried this with roasted squash and it was insanely good!!! I also used a bit more cayenne and the flavour was rich and smooth with a good kick but not spicy.
Love you Chef John!!

Unknown said...

We made this just the other day. Thanks Chef John!

Unknown said...

We made this just the other day. Thank you, Chef John!

Unknown said...

I'm curious why you peel the squash if it's going to be blitzed anyway. I thought the skin had a lot of flavour that gets thrown out by peeling.

Unknown said...

I wish he would give us directions on roasting it, since he made it such a big deal to mention it. How do we roast the squash, John?

Dimitri said...

Oh my. Made this for my wife (who has an abnormal love for butternut squash) and she loved it. Chef John, thanks for the instruction- this one is going in my recipe book.

Unknown said...

First let me say I'm a BIG fan of all Chef John's recipes. However, this is not a soup I would make again. I followed the recipe exactly as given. It was the tomato paste that I feel ruined the soup/bisque. The final product tasted more like tomato soup than butternut squash soup. Too bad, I had such high hopes. Sorry Chef John, this was not a winner.

gwloo said...

There seem to be a lot of queries on the roasted recipe here. The roasted version was posted earlier in 2015. I have tried both recipes from Chef John. Just to caution against over-doing the roasting part. Despite the word "roast", we want to stay away from caramelization! Caramelized onions and squash will over power everything in the taste department and there is no turning back. We just want it softened and stop the oven at the first sight of browning, or if you are that good, just before it. The goal is to get a tad more concentrated flavor via taking out some water content(think aged beef). You still want the soup to look deep yellow or orange instead of brown.

Unknown said...

Chef John, you are a kitchen GOD. I have wanted to try butternut squash soup for years but never quite dared. I just wasn't sure all the flavors would work together. I have enjoyed watching your videos for some time now and have tried one or two recipes. Recently I made Creme Fraiche with your guidance. Easy and delicious! So I dared to make the Butternut Bisque today. There's a blizzard outside and I wanted a nice soup for supper--as we call the evening meal in Maine. I chose to roast the squash and I made the soup just like you said, right down to the tomato paste, creme fraiche and maple syrup. I even did your narrative along the way. :) I tasted before and after the addition of each seasoning and each one made it better and better. If I ever try another version of Butternut Soup, I know it will pale in comparison. This is PERFECT! Thank you. You're my hero.

Unknown said...

I made this soup per the recipe and thought the taste was just Ok. However, letting the bisque rest overnight in the fridge and then adding a bit more maple syrup the next day greatly improved the taste. Also, I always use unsalted chicken stock. Consequently 'salt to taste' is important to getting the taste just right. In this recipe this is especially true, squash and onion are both very bland without salt.

Victoria said...

I made this on Wednesday at it was absolutely delicious! Thank you Chef John for another amazing recipe!