Autumn Squash & Mushroom Chowder w/ Bacon

Squash season is firmly upon us, and oh, what a delight to bring the best out of luscious pumpkin and butternut!

This recipe is a French Spaghetti ORIGINAL.

This chowder was a small labor of love, because I did it in a few steps, rather than cook all the ingredients together as we often do when making a soup of stew.

This warm, earthy, spiced chowder is chunky with pumpkin, roasted butternut squash, a few cloves of garlic, plenty of sautéed shallots and Portobello mushrooms, butter and cream. Very subtle elements of seasonal flavors like nutmeg, cumin and cinnamon are elevating every layer.

Garnished with bacon, roasted sunflower seeds, chopped parsley and a swirl light olive oil.

Simply stunning!

You will need----

4 cups of peeled and cubed butternut squash

1 cup of pure pumpkin puree

200 grams of Portobello mushrooms, sliced

1 shallot, sliced

1 small sweet onion, chopped fine

1 clove of garlic. chopped fine

olive oil

1 cup of evaporated milk

2 cups of beef bone broth

4 slices of cooked, crisp bacon

Salt & pepper

pinch of allspice

pinch of ginger

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 pats of salted butter

Fresh flat leaf parsley

pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds. chopped pecans would be lovely too

In a large sauce pan on medium heat and with a bit of olive oil, sauté the sweet onion and garlic for a minute. Add all of the butternut squash, and continue to sauté until everything is fragrant. About 3 minutes.

Pour in all of the beef bone stock, let this simmer on low until the squash is fork tender. Season a bit with salt & pepper.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan on medium heat, with a bit of olive oil and a pat of butter--sauté the shallots and mushrooms. Be sure not to cook the mushrooms too long. They should have nice color from the gentle sauté. Be mindful and toss them frequently enough.

Remove the mushrooms and shallots from the heat and set aside.

When the squash is fork tender, remove from the heat and puree enough of it so that it is smooth, yet with a good few chunks of butternut intact for texture.

Return the pot to low heat and add the pumpkin puree, Worcestershire and the spices. Cook until everything is incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste. About 2 minutes.

Add the evaporated milk and stir until the soup is creamy and lovely with an orange hue.

Heat through for another minute and add in a pat of butter.

Gently fold in the shallots and mushrooms into the creamy squash soup.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with crispy bacon, fresh parsley, nuts and/or seeds.

Enjoy!!

The soup does NOT freeze well, It will stay good in the refrigerator for up to 2 days with a little bone broth added to reheat. Reheat it on the stove top only on low heat.