Pumpkin Soup with Blue Cheese and Bacon
Edward Bottone is a food and lifestyle journalist, a former chef and restaurateur, TV and radio presenter, and culinary educator.
This recipe is featured in Pumpkin: A Contemplation
- Servings 4
Ingredients
- 1.36 kg (3 pounds) pumpkin (or butternut squash), peeled and cubed*
- 4 strips smoky bacon, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2.5 ml (½ teaspoon) dried sage
- 2.5 ml (½ teaspoon) dried thyme
- 2.5 ml (½ teaspoon) ground allspice
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) sea salt
- Ground white pepper, to taste
- 710 ml (3 cups) good chicken broth
- 355 ml (1½ cups) light cream
- 4 or so dashes of your favorite hot sauce
- 118 ml (½ cup) crumbled Maytag or other blue cheese, for garnish
*Or 28 grams (14 ounces) canned pureed pumpkin.
Preparation
1. In a pot large enough to hold all the ingredients sauté the bacon until crispy. Remove, drain on a paper towel, crumble and reserve for garnish.
2. Sauté onion and garlic in bacon fat until translucent and well glazed. Drain off excess fat. Add pumpkin and “sweat” covered for five minutes. Add the sage, thyme, allspice, salt, and pepper; stir well. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer for half an hour or until the pumpkin is soft.
3. Purée the soup in a food processor, or with an immersion blender until smooth. Return to the pot and add most of the cream; re-heat but do not boil. If too thick, thin with more cream. Adjust seasonings with salt and white pepper and then add the hot sauce.
4. Serve in warmed bowls, garnished with crumbled, crispy bacon and blue cheese.
Edward Bottone
Edward Bottone is a food and lifestyle journalist based in Philadelphia, whose works have appeared in Philadelphia Magazine, The Bermudian, London Times Express, Islands Magazine, and the online magazine Table Matters where he was also Editor. He has also published academic papers on Tourism and Taste.
He is a former chef and restaurateur with establishments in Philadelphia and Bermuda, a TV and Radio presenter, and Assistant Professor teaching a range of courses, including Gastronomy and Culture, at Drexel University and Delaware Valley University. Reach him at curiouscook77@gmail.com
Courtesy photo
