Bacon Infused Butternut Squash Soup Food

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND BACON SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray. Place butternut squash, onion, bell pepper and bacon in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Add olive oil and garlic; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Gently toss to combine. Place into oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until butternut squash is tender, stirring at halftime.* Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Heat a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add butternut squash mixture and thyme, and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in chicken stock and puree with an immersion blender. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5-10 minutes. If the soup is too thick, add more chicken stock as needed until desired consistency is reached. Serve immediately, garnished with bacon, goat cheese and chives, if desired.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP WITH PEARS AND BACON

Steps:

• Sauté bacon in a large stockpot until crisp; remove from pan, drain on paper towels and crumble. Remove all but 1 tbsp (15 mL) bacon grease from pot; add onion and sauté over medium heat until browned.
• Add broth, squash, pears and celery to pot. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
• Let cool slightly, then with an immersion blender or in a blender or food processor, purée mixture until smooth. Return back to pot and add herbs and bacon. Simmer for 10 minutes more. Stir in half-and-half and season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with chopped fresh thyme.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP WITH BACON

Steps:

• Cook and stir bacon in large saucepan on medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon, reserving bacon drippings in pan; drain bacon on paper towels. Add onions and garlic to reserved bacon drippings; cook and stir 5 min. or until crisp-tender.
• Add broth, squash and sage; stir. Bring to boil; simmer on medium-low heat 20 min. or until squash is tender, stirring occasionally. Blend, in batches, in blender until smooth, returning each puréed batch to saucepan.
• Add cream cheese; cook 3 to 5 min. or until completely melted, stirring constantly with whisk. Serve topped with bacon.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP WITH APPLE AND BACON

Steps:

• In a 5 qt or larger stockpot set over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp and golden, 8-10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels.
• Increase the heat to medium high. Add the squash to the pot with the bacon fat and cook until lightly browned, 4-6 minutes (resist the urge to stir too often or it won't brown).
• Stir in the apple, sage, salt and pepper and cook for about 4 minutes (you'll see more browning occur on the bottom of the pot than on the vegetables).
• Add the broth, scraping up any browned bits in the pot with a wooden spoon.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until the squash and apples are very soft, 6-8 minutes.
• Remove from heat & let cool somewhat.
• Add about half the bacon to the soup and puree, using a stand or immersion blender (you'll need to work in batches if using a stand blender).
• Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
• Reheat the soup and garnish each serving with the remaining bacon.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP WITH BACON AND CHEDDAR

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan with a lid, melt butter and cook onion over low low heat until translucent and sweet. About 30 minutes.
• Add chopped bacon, butternut squash and stock.
• Cook 30 minutes or until squash is tender.
• Add sage and salt and pepper to taste.
• Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth.
• Add cream, sour cream and cheese and heat through, stirring to melt cheese.
• Serve with toasted bread croutons, or crostini.