New England Pumpkin Bisque Recipes

SAVORY PUMPKIN BISQUE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a heavy bottom dutch oven. Add minced garlic and onion. Cook on medium heat until onions are soft. 2-3 minutes. Don't let garlic or onion burn.
• Add in minced chipotle, oregano and pumpkin spice. Sauté for 30 seconds to bloom the spices. Now add pumpkin puree. Add water (or vegetable stock, if using) and 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix well so that pumpkin puree is fully mixed with stock. No signs of lumps. Turn heat to medium high. Bring to boil and then simmer on medium heat for 5 more minutes.
• Add honey and apple cider vinegar. Mix well. Turn off heat. Mix in heavy cream while continuously stirring the soup. I use from 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of heavy cream.
• Return pan to medium-low heat. Simmer until soup thickens. (3-4 minutes) Add cheddar cheese and mix until cheese has melted. Taste and adjust salt/honey. (I end up adding 1/2 tsp more salt.) Ladle into bowls, garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Serve and enjoy!

GINGERED PUMPKIN BISQUE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, saute the shallots, onion and ginger in oil until tender. Stir in flour until blended; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Gradually stir in broth and cider. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened., Stir in the pumpkin, syrup and seasonings. Return to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat; cool slightly., In a blender, process soup in batches until smooth. Return all to the pan. Stir in cream and vanilla; heat through (do not boil). If desired, drizzle individual servings with additional cream and garnish with thyme sprigs.

PUMPKIN BISQUE

Steps:

• Steam or boil the pumpkin or squash until tender.
• Sauté onions over medium heat in olive oil until translucent.
• Using a high-speed blender, combine pumpkin, onions, stock, garlic, wine, maple syrup and spices and blend until smooth.
• Warm soup in saucepan. Serve hot, garnished with pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of pumpkin seed oil, if desired.

DOWNEAST MAINE PUMPKIN BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
• In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
• Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

NUTTY PUMPKIN BISQUE

Steps:

• In a 6-qt. stockpot, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir until tender, 2-3 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in stock, pumpkin, sherry, brown sugar and seasonings; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes., Stir in cream, pecans and seeds. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Process in batches in a blender until smooth. Return all to pan; heat through. If desired, serve with optional toppings.

MY SPECIAL ROASTED PUMPKIN BISQUE - A FALL TRADITION

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Adjust oven racks to fit whole pumpkin in the oven without the stem coming in contact with the coils.
• Rinse the outside of pumpkin to remove any residual dirt or debris. Dry.
• Carefully cut out the top portion of the pumpkin surrounding the stem so that you are creating a "lid" for the entire pumpkin. Do this on an angle so that the knife is pointed almost straight out from you. You will be creating a lip for the lid of the pumpkin to rest on so that it does not fall straight in while cooking.
• Place lid upside down in a bowl of water so that the stem becomes very wet. While this is soaking for a few minutes, clean out interior of pumpkin, removing any strings and seeds. Rinse seeds and set aside to roast later on if desired.
• With pumpkin cavity cleaned out, place butter, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and thyme inside.
• Place pumpkin on a cookie sheet lined with foil or parchment paper.
• Replace lid on pumpkin and use the olive oil to grease the entire exterior of the pumpkin, lid included.
• Put pumpkin in oven, again making sure that stem isn't touching the coils.
• Bake for one hour. Check for doneness by carefully removing lid and scraping a knife very gently into the interior flesh, but not piercing it through. Texture should be soft and scoopable. If still a bit hard, then cook for an additional 30 minutes or so until soft. The outside of the pumpkin with be a burnt orange and brown.
• Once done, remove pumpkin from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
• Scrape interior flesh very gently, not going too deep, and making sure to get the flesh at the bottom mainly, where the butter and aromatics were.
• Once you have about 4 cups of flesh, including the thyme sprigs and such, then set the whole pumpkin aside for later and place flesh in a big stockpot of dutch oven. Add chicken broth and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Remove thyme sprigs, but scrape some of the little leaves into the soup.
• With an immersion blender, puree the soup completely. If very thick like pudding add a little extra water or chicken broth.
• Add all seasonings to the puree, adjusting to suit your individual tastes.
• With a ladle, strain puree through a mesh sieve into a large bowl. The soup should go through somewhat easily with you pushing it through gently with the ladle.
• Rinse out your stockpot and replace the strained soup. Stir in the whipping cream and adjust salt and pepper seasonings.
• Let bisque simmer on stovetop for another 10 minutes at least, for flavors to meld.
• To serve bisque, place pumpkin on a large platter. Place a large bowl inside of pumpkin (if you are able to fit it through the top hole) and pour soup into that bowl, replacing lid and placing on table. Otherwise, if you feel the pumpkin walls and bottom are still solid enough and there are no visible holes in the flesh, then you can try pouring the soup directly into the pumpkin shell itself and serving directly out of the pumpkin. For a decorative touch, line the platter with kale leaves to resemble foliage.
• Serve at the table with the lid in place and ladle sticking out.
• **To roast the reserved pumpkin seeds for a snack: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse pumpkin seeds and remove any strings. Dry seeds lightly with a cloth or paper towel. Spread onto a sheet pan. Sprinkle with salt, cumin and chili powder. Toss well with hands. Bake for 20 minutes or until well toasted and dried out. Remove from oven, sprinkle olive oil across seeds and toss in a bowl. Add more salt or spices according to your preference.

SMOKY PUMPKIN BISQUE

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat; stir in onion. Cook and stir until onion has softened and browned, about 5 minutes. Add bacon crumbles; cook for 1 minute. Stir in sweet vermouth, ancho chile powder, chipotle powder, and cinnamon. Reduce heat to low and stir in pumpkin; simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in half-and-half until smooth.

NEW ENGLAND PUMPKIN BISQUE

Steps:

• In heavy stock pan heat butter, saute onions and pears about 5 minutes or til soft.
• Add sage,and salt and pepper. Add flour, cook few minutes, Add stock slowly, whisking to remove lumps.
• Add pumpkin, curry, brown sugar and bring to a simmer. cook 30 minutes. Puree. Add cream. Heat through and serve.
• Tastes richer next day. Makes 12 cups.