Honeynut Winter Squash and Fennel Styled Bisque

  • DIFFICULTY: EASY
  • 45 minutes

Ingredients

Serves 4-6
Butternut Squash, Sausage, & Escarole Soup
  • 3½ Cups Roasted Honeynut Winter Squash (I used approximately 3 small squash)
  • 2 Cups Broth (I used a chicken bone broth)
  • 1 Pint Heavy Cream*
  • ¼ Cup Goat Cheese Crumbles*
  • *Just a reminder: you can omit the dairy if desired.
  • 3 Fennel Bulbs, cut into thin strips
  • 1 Cup Fennel Fronds
  • 1 Cup Ground Sausage of choice (I used spicy Italian sausage)
  • Splash of Beer and/or Broth (to help cook sausage/fennel)
  • Optional Additions: Fresh herbs, salt. pepper, chili flakes, extra heavy cream, fresh bread, etc.

Method

By Alysha Melnyk Overhead shot of Honeynut Winter Squash and Fennel Styled Bisque. Recipe by Alysha Melnyk with Taproot Farm.

                                   ~Author Notes~

The cool and chilly fall weather has me craving all types of soup! I love a good squash soup, and Taproot Farm’s Honeynut Winter Squash are perfect for a sweet and flavorful soup base.

This recipe is style like a bisque with the extra cream and herbs. Keep in mind though that you don’t have the add the dairy and you can keep just the squash/broth as a thick soup. The fennel and sausage add an extra burst of flavor and texture to this dish.

The squash takes a bit of time to roast, so I do recommend roasting it ahead of time if possible to save a bit of time on the soup preparation part. Hope you all enjoy this delicious, seasonal recipe!

 

A detail shot of Honeynut Winter Soup. Recipe by Alysha Melnyk with Taproot Farm, PA.

Organic Vegetables grown at Taproot Farm, PA. Directions

  1. First, roast your squash. As mentioned in the introduction, I do recommend doing this in advance if you want to cut back on your preparation time. There are a few different ways to roast squash (I just omit any seasonings and roast it plain) – here’s one suggestion: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/268480/roasted-honeynut-squash/ 
  2. Once squash is roasted, scoop out the seeds and flesh. Combine the squash flesh and broth in a blender, pureeing until smooth.
  3. Transfer this to a soup pot. As mentioned, you can omit the dairy if desired, but if you want an extra creamy soup add in the heavy cream and goat cheese at this time, stirring to combine. You can also add 3/4 cup of the small fennel frond pieces as this time for added herb flavor. Heat the soup on medium (stirring occasionally) until warmed through.
  4. While soup is warming, combine your ground sausage, thinly cut fennel, and a splash of broth and/or beer (* a splash meaning a 1/2 inch of liquid in the pan), cover with a lid and cook until fennel is tender and sausage is cooked through.
  5. Once the fennel is tender and sausage is cooked through I remove the lid and let the liquid cook off, allowing the sausage and fennel to brown slightly.
  6. Once sausage and fennel are lightly browned, feel free to include the mix directly in the soup or save as a topper with the remaining fronds/additional heavy cream if desired.
  7. Enjoy warm with extra seasonings and bread!

Alysha Melnyk is the Founder and Content Creator of The Kitchenologist©, a food blog dedicated to healthy eating and kitchen experiments. Alysha combined her background in biology with her passion for making food delicious, eye-catching, and accessible. When she’s not cooking in the kitchen or dreaming up a recipe, Alysha works full time as an Implementation Specialist at ECRI, an international medical nonprofit located in suburban Philadelphia that is dedicated to improving patient safety worldwide. Alysha finds her many career passions revolve around the power of knowledge and that equipping people with the right tools and resources will help them make better informed decisions.

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