Curried Butternut Squash Bisque with Roasted Red Pepper Coulis

This is a recipe that I developed last Thanksgiving on a whim. It's a rustic style bisque, not strained, though you can certainly strain it if you like. This serves four as a soup course, or two as a main course with salad or bread. It may seem like a small amount of chile powder, but 1/4 teaspoon gave almost overwhelming heat with the curry powder (Penzey's Majaraja blend). The pinot noir is the beverage of choice tonight, as it will be served with osso buco style chicken thighs.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 1 medium sweet onion
• 1 head of garlic
• 2 14oz cans of Chicken broth
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1/8 tsp chipotle powder
• 8 oz heavy cream
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg (to make them go "hmmmm" )
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Preheat oven to 375 F.

• Cut the butternut squash in half, very carefully, and scoop out the seeds and strings. Peel and quarter the onion. Slice the top 1/4 off the head of garlic and wrap in tinfoil. Place the vegetables on a roasting or baking pan and brush the onion and squash with olive oil, and pour olive oil over the top of the garlic before closing.

• Roast until desired degree of doneness (I prefer a good char on everything but the garlic. The onions will be done first, and the garlic and squash should be done around the same time - 45 min for onion, 1 hour 30 min plus for squash and garlic).

• Scoop the cooked squash flesh into a large pot with a spoon. Add the onion and squeeze the garlic out of the bulb.

• Cover all with chicken broth, adding more or less for desired consistency. Heat mixture thoroughly.

• Carefully remove mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Place back into pot and add curry powder and chipotle powder.

• Stir in heavy cream and nutmeg (fresh ground, please!) and adjust seasonings to taste. Keep over low heat until warmed through.

Serving

• Serve with Roasted Red Pepper Coulis and extra fresh ground pepper.

Roasted Red Pepper Coulis

Ingredients:

• 1 jar of roasted red peppers, drained
• 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper

• Blend peppers and olive oil until smooth, add salt and pepper to taste.