Butternut Bisque with Brown-Butter Sage Pine Nuts

Another winner from one of my favorite blogs ever, The Cafe Sucre Farine. Whenever I'm looking for a great soup, I check this gal's blog. She has never disappointed me - ever!!!! This butternut bisque is just plain delicious and perfect for autumn! The flavors come together beautifully - roasting the squash gives another layer of yummy.  The brown-butter sage pine nuts are magnificent!! Enjoy with a good crusty bread and a side salad.

**The only thing I changed was I substituted 1/4 cup heavy cream for the yogurt simply because I didn't have the yogurt on hand. 

Here is The Cafe Sucre Farine's Butternut Bisque verbatim:

Ingredients
 
For the soup:

• 1 large butternut squash
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium sweet yellow onion, diced
• 2 medium cloves garlic, finely minced
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth to make it vegetarian)
• 2 medium bay leaf
• ½ cup Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon fine chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon finely ground fresh sage
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

• For the pine nuts:
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• 2 teaspoons finely ground fresh sage
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• tiny sage sprigs and/or finely chopped rosemary and sage, for garnish, if desired

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F. Line a sheet pan with foil.
2. Cut butternut squash* in half and scoop out seeds. Rub each half all over with olive oil and place, cut side down, on the prepared sheet pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until tender and easily pierced with a small sharp knife. Set aside to cool.
3. While the squash is cooling, heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a medium-large pot over medium heat. When butter is melted, add onion and salute for 4-5 minutes or until onion is softened and translucent. Add garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds.
4. Add chicken broth and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce to a steady simmer and cook, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove bay leaves.
5. Carefully scoop out roasted squash and add to the pot along with the Greek yogurt, rosemary, sage, salt and pepper. Using and immersion blender or a regular blender, blend until silky smooth.
6. For the pine nuts, melt butter in a small saute pan. Continue cooking until butter starts to foam and turn golden. Swirl pan occasionally to prevent burning. When butter starts to turn pale golden brown, add sage, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine, add pine nuts and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously until pine nuts turn golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with several thicknesses of paper towels to cool.
7. Ladle hot soup into serving bowls. Top with a small dollop of Greek yogurt. Swirl yogurt slightly with a toothpick or the pointed end of a skewer and scatter with a small spoonful of the pine nuts. Garnish with small sage sprigs and more finely chopped herbs, if desired.

Notes

* Butternut squash are really hard to cut. To simplify cutting process, place squash in microwave on high power for 1-2 minutes before cutting. Squash will not cook but will soften slightly and will be much easier to cut.