Without a doubt, fall is my favorite season. I love everything about it – the color of the leaves, the scent of a hot apple crisp, the crispness of the weather. And, not to be forgotten, I love all things pumpkin! Now I have made pumpkin cakes and pumpkin pies, but this fall I decided to try something a little different: a pumpkin bisque.I started by heading to Main & Vine in Gig Harbor. They had all kinds of pumpkins out and fall goodies – make sure to swing by!
I also made sure to pick up fresh organic veggies for my slow-cooker pumpkin bisque recipe.
Here’s another tip: to save on spices, buy them in bulk! Not only will you save a ton of money this way, but you’ll keep your spices fresher, which will make your recipes shine.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 2 cans of pumpkin puree
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 cup diced sweet onion
- 1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped (I used Honeycrisp)
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup half & half
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- Salt & pepper, to taste (I used generously in my soup!)
1. Start by pulling out your slow cooker; you’ll need it!
2. Put the carrots, onion, apple, celery, both cans of pumpkin puree, and the chicken broth in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.
3. Next, it’s time to puree! If you have an immersion blender, awesome. You can go ahead and use that. I don’t own one, but I do have a Vitamix and it does the trick. (Most high-speed blenders should be fine as well.) I just put the soup in the blender in small batches, and turned it on low. As the veggies are all really soft, it doesn’t take much to puree them at this point.
4. Once your soup is all pureed, work in the half and half, brown sugar, and spices. Hint: if you prefer, you could use pumpkin pie spice as opposed to using the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger if you prefer (I’d use 1-2 tablespoons, to taste). Stir and let simmer in the slow cooker about 20 minutes or until ready to serve.
My kitchen smelled so delicious at this point, and my daughter had to ask what I was cooking.
Now you could top your soup with any number of things, but I found some delicious honey sesame roasted pumpkin seeds at Main & Vine. They actually had all kinds of pumpkin seeds to choose from.
You could also use croutons or a sprig of fresh herbs. Enjoy!
