Butternut Squash Bisque with Flame-Roasted Chilies and Turnip Chips

This soup is awesome!! Steps one and two can be done ahead of time: this saves time and also heating up the kitchen. Roasting garlic mellows out the flavor a lot, so don't worry about the large number of cloves.



This recipe was born out of my going to the grocery store and picking up whatever produce looked cheap/good. I got home and realized I'd perhaps OD'd on starchy fall vegetables (this was the first time it got cool, not this past 85* weekend). So, I made turnip chips to serve with the soup, which was awesome, but not necessary. The turnips cooked differently and more quickly than the thicker pieces of squash, so be advised. I might even try to do the turnips in the toaster oven next time.

And yes, I know that this isn't 'technically' a bisque, but this use of the name is so prevalent in the US, why not?

Butternut Squash Bisque with Flame-Roasted Chilies and Turnip Chips

Ingredients

olive oil

smoked salt

1 turnip, halved width-wise and then thinly sliced

*

squash (peel first?), cut into in 90-degree wedges (3/4 in thick)

olive oil

10 cloves garlic

*

2 large poblano/pasilla chilies

*

olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 tsp whole cumin

*

3 c vegetable stock

*

cayenne

salt to taste

sriracha

scallions

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 450*. Toss turnip slices with olive oil and smoked salt, then spread on a baking sheet. Separately, toss squash chunks and garlic cloves with olive oil, and spread them out on baking sheets. Place in oven, and monitor their cooking: squash should be soft and slightly browned; turnips should be crispy and slightly browned.  This will take somewhere about 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, roast the two chilies on gas burners, like so. When they are sufficiently blackened and cooked, remove from heat and set aside until cool. When cooled, scrape off the blackened part, remove stem and seeds, and coarsely chop the remainder. Set aside.
3. Now you're ready to start the soup. In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat olive oil and saute onion, celery, and cumin seeds until softened (5-10 min). Then, add vegetable stock and roasted squash and garlic. Simmer, cool, puree!
4. Reheat. Add water to thin if necessary. Add cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Serve hot, topped with sriracha, scallions, and turnip chips. Serves 3-4.

*

Also,"Pimp My Noodle Bowl: Oakland Edition":