Elegant Butternut Bisque Recipe!

You will LOVE this recipe. Simple, easy, delicious and elegant. If you are looking for new ways to serve butternut squash, try this bisque. I invented this recipe recently and served it as a first course for dinner to my family (aka: guinea pigs). They absolutely loved it and urged me to write a hub about it. Hope you like it as much as they did.

Since I am always looking for ways to cut calories, but not flavor, this bisque is not made with cream. Instead, I make butter and flour rue and use whole milk. This way, you get some of that creamy flavor and none of the heaviness or extra fat.

1 large butternut squash- halved and deseeded

1 medium onion- thinly sliced

2 big stalks celery- sliced

3 medium cloves garlic- chopped

1 large bullion cube (I used chicken, but you can substitute with vegetable to make it vegan)

2 T butter

2 T flour

2 cups milk

1/4 t ground sage

salt and freshly ground black pepper- to taste

olive oil- to drizzle

Preheat oven to 400f.

1. Place the two halves of the butternut squash skin side down on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil and salt and roast in the oven until tender (roughly about 30 minutes). While you wait for it to bake, prepare other ingredients.

2. In a large pot, drizzle some olive oil and sauté onions, garlic and celery until tender. When the butternut is done roasting, scoop it out of the skin and add to the pot in chunks. Add about 3 cups water, salt to taste and sage. Cover and cook on medium heat until boiling, then lower heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

3. Remove from pot and place in a big bowl. With a hand-held mixer or food processor, puree the squash mixture. Set aside.

4. Rinse out the pot, dry it and place it back on the stove. Melt butter and add flour, then toast it lightly for a few seconds. Add the milk gradually, stirring constantly to prevent clumps. Keep stirring the milk until it begins to thicken. Lower heat and slowly add the squash mixture to the milk, stirring constantly. Add the freshly ground black pepper to taste.

5. At this point, you may add a little more water (or milk if you prefer) if you like a thinner consistency.

Unfortunately, I did not have bread in the house to make homemade croutons (which is why my photo looks rather plain). You can sprinkle with croutons just before serving, or even a small dollop of sour cream to fancy it up a bit. Try it and let me know!