Heirloom Pumpkin Bisque
The perils of large format pumpkin roasting and shameless shout-out about my Thanksgiving e-book that is a tad late but soon to hit the Fresh Life pages.
Heirloom Pumpkin Bisque
The fall season and corresponding menu change at Fresh Thymes was eagerly awaited by the community and our employees! Overnight, the restaurant became awash in pumpkins of all shapes, sizes and colors, stacked upon each other in a mishmash and tumble of pumpkins in every nook and cranny. Both an art installation exuberantly embracing the change of seasons, but also a primo shopping cart for the kitchen as we worked our way through the mountains of gorgeous pumpkins and winter squash to make all manner of dishes on our fall and winter menu.
The most awaited seasonal menu item was our famed Pumpkin Bisque. Made with roasted local heirloom pumpkins, it was also vegan by design. And that is being more conscious of all the reasons one does not consume dairy products. As well, without the flavor of traditional dairy in the way, the true pumpkin essence shines through with each batch made with different pumpkins. To give perspective on how beloved this soup was, we would make 12 gallons of this soup every two to three days until we ran out of pumpkins! The kitchen would break down 80 pounds of pumpkin for every batch.
My goal by shamelessly putting pumpkin and winter squashes all over the menu was to side-step the ubiquitous pumpkin spice latte and introduce the diverse and delicious flavors of these fall fruits. To marvel, revel, and be in awe of the wisdom of mother nature and all she provides for our nourishment.
The fruits of fall are full of Vitamin A and C and all sorts of potent antioxidants, to say nothing of the preferred fiber for our microbiome, all essential for an optimally functioning immune system. It’s almost like mother nature knows this is precious food to keep us healthy during the winter season when little else grows. I like that kind of wisdom.
My favorite pumpkins for soup are: Long Island Cheese, Cinderella, Musque de Provence, Blue Hubbard and Peanut Pumpkins.
