Butternut Squash Soup Shots With Candied Bacon 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 SHOTS WITH CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Cut squash in half lengthwise, remove seeds, and place cut side down on baking dish; add 1/2 inch of water and bake until fork tender, about 40 minutes.
• Meanwhile, trim leeks, slit lengthwise and wash thoroughly.
• Rough chop the white and light green parts (save tough green tops for making stock).
• In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium low heat.
• Saute leeks for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, then add curry powder.
• Scoop out squash flesh and add to pot; pour in chicken broth, ginger, maple syrup, and salt.
• Simmer 30 minutes.
• Puree the soup using an immersion blender, or a regular blender or food processor in batches.
• While soup is simmering, you can prepare the bacon.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a heavy skillet, over medium heat, cook bacon, in batches, until lightly browned, but not crisp; drain on paper toweling.
• Meanwhile, combine brown sugar, cayenne, and black pepper.
• Arrange bacon strips on a parchment or brown paper lined baking tray and coat with brown sugar mixture.
• Bake until sugar is caramelized and bacon is crisp, about 5 minutes; transfer to brown paper to cool (will stick to paper towels).
• Reheat soup, if necessary, and serve in shot glasses with 1/2 slice of bacon standing up in it - or serve in bowls as a soup course with crumbled bacon.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP II

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.
• Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

TWICE-BAKED BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH PARMESAN CREAM AND CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut both squash in half lengthwise; scoop out seeds. Transfer cut side down to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Poke outside of skin all over with a fork, then roast until flesh is very soft, about 1 1/2 hours for large squash and about 1 hour for medium squash.
• Meanwhile, heat 1 cup cream in a medium pot over medium until just beginning to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and whisk in 1/4 cup cheese and cook, whisking, until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to a medium bowl and chill until very cold, about 45 minutes (do not freeze).
• Cook bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally, until crisp, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to paper towels, reserving bacon fat in skillet. Let cool, then finely chop.
• Spread 3 Tbsp. sugar in a thin layer in the center of a medium dry skillet. Cook over medium heat, mostly undisturbed (it's ok to swirl pan gently to get sugar to melt evenly), until sugar melts and starts to turn light brown, about 6 minutes. Quickly stir in bacon and hazelnuts and cook, stirring, until coated and melted sugar is chestnut brown, about 1 minute more. Scrape onto a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and spread out to cool, then finely chop.
• Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Using a spoon, scoop flesh out of large squash into a large bowl, leaving a 1/2" border around squash shell to help maintain its shape. Transfer large shells to a rimmed baking sheet; arrange a few pieces of crumpled foil around shells to keep them upright. Scoop flesh out of medium shells into same bowl (you should have 6 cups squash); discard medium shells. Using a potato masher or spatula, mix in salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1 Tbsp. reserved bacon fat, and remaining 1 cup cream, 3/4 cup cheese, and 1 Tbsp. sugar until smooth. Fold in 2 Tbsp. chives. Divide filling between large squash shells, then create attractive swoops with a spoon. Bake squash until warmed through, 20-30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed or a whisk, whip chilled cream to medium peaks. Chill until ready to use.
• Dollop squash with whipped cream, then top with candied bacon bits and remaining 1 Tbsp. chives. Serve extra candied hazelnut-bacon bits on the side.
• Do Ahead
• Squash shells can be filled (not baked) 2 days ahead; cover and chill.

BACON-INFUSED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Steps:

• Cook bacon slices in large pot until crisp.
• Remove bacon and drain.
• Reserve 2 tbsp drippings in pan.
• Crumble bacon and set aside.
• Saute onion and carrots in bacon drippings over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes (until onion is tender).
• Add celery and apple to pan and saute 5 minutes.
• And garlic and saute 1 minute.
• Add squash and chicken broth.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until carrots are tender.
• Process mixture, in batches, in a blender or food processor until smooth.
• (Hot mixtures will erupt out of blender if too full- believe me I know).
• Return mixture to pot.
• Stir in lime juice and next 7 ingredients.
• Simmer for 7-10 minutes or until thickened.
• Top soup with crumbled bacon and garnish with sour cream and red pepper.

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.

BEST BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP EVER

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat; cook the onion, garlic, and thyme in the hot butter until the onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Add the squash and chicken stock; bring to a simmer and cook until the squash is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Crumble the bouillon into the soup; season with cumin, allspice, salt, and pepper; remove from heat.
• Pour the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway. Hold the lid of the blender in place with a kitchen towel and carefully start the blender using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a serving bowl. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup in the pot.