Curried Coconut and Butternut Squash Bisque

I saw a few recipes over the last few days, okay I’m totally behind… make that months.  Anyway, I saw a couple of recipes over the last few months for butternut squash bisque and knew that I needed to make one of my own.  I love butternut squash just about any way – mostly I love it cut into cubes and roasted and put into salads, soups, or just eaten with tons of salt and pepper.  So I figured I should try out one of these bisque like this one from COOKIE + kate: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup or this one from The Movement Menu: Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup or this one from Bon Appetite: Curried Butternut Squash Soup.  Okay, I’ll stop pointing you to other websites and just tell you about my own or better yet show you!

There it is in all its creamy coconutty glory.  Ohmegee guys this is delicious.  I love the flavor coconut and curry powder together especially in the winter time when the curry warms me up and the coconut provides a rich and creamy texture.  Seriously, this is some damn delicious bisque.  I can’t believe it took me so long to finally get into gear and make it!

Determining what to use to top my soups, especially bisque without any interesting texture in them is always a challenge for me.  While I love a swirl of sour cream in just about everything it really doesn’t add any texture to the dish which can become boring if that’s all you’re eating for lunch.  I took some inspiration from the Bon Appetite recipe and added in some cilantro and crunch, toasted pepitas which gave it the crunch I was looking for.  Problem solved. ?

Curried Coconut and Butternut Squash Bisque Recipe

serves 3-4

Ingredients

4 lbs of butternut squash
1 shallot
2 T. canola oil
2 T. curry powder (I used a hot curry powder blend)
1 – 14 oz can of light coconut milk (you can use regular if you want it richer)
1.5 cups chicken broth
1 orange, zested
salt + pepper
cilantro, pepitas, sour cream, toasted coconut, or anything else you can find for sprinkling on top

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the butternut squash in half and brush with 1 T. of the canola oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven until caramelized on the outsides and tender to the touch, about 40 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

2) After the butternut squash has cooled, heat the remaining 1 T. canola oil in a Dutch Oven, or large saucepan, over medium heat.  Mince the shallot and add to the hot oil and saute for a few minutes until soft.  Add the curry powder and the orange zest to the pot and saute until fragrant, only about 1 minute.

3) Remove the skin from the butternut squash and spoon the flesh into the pot with the shallots.  Add 1 T. of juice from the orange, the coconut milk, and the broth.  Stir to combine.  Bring to a simmer.

4) Use an immersion blender to blend the bisque until creamy.  Alternatively, you can, working in batches, use a blender but be careful with the hot soup!

5) Serve with toppings, I used cilantro, pepitas, and sour cream.