Apple Pumpkin Bisque

Well, in the spirit of "All things Pumpkin" I tried to make a dinner that incorporated pumpkin

I mean, this is a dinner site after all

I know a lot of desserts have pumpkin... so that part is easy

But dinner?  Well, not so much

Soup is about the closest thing I can find

I tried an apple squash bisque a few weeks ago and I liked it

So, since squash and pumpkin are related, I figured I'd search for a similar recipe

I found a few

Most of them call for the same ingredients, so it was easy to just pick one

Since I already had the pumpkin ready, it was very easy to make.

I didn't take long at all.
I did change the recipe up slightly from the original and the recipe reflects my changes

Here we go

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon unsalted butter ( I used salted, because that's what I had on hand)
1/2  small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger root ( I used 1/2 tsp ground ginger)
2 1/2 C pumpkin purée
1 1/2 C  unsweetened applesauce
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon apple-cider vinegar

1 cinnamon stick

1 small, dried chile pepper ( I didn't use this)

Pinch ground nutmeg

Salt and ground white pepper, to taste

1/2 cup heavy cream or sour cream ( I used the heavy cream)

Directions:

Melt butter over medium heat in a large, heavy saucepan.

Sauté the onion and ginger until onion is tender, about 4 minutes.

Add all other ingredients (except the cream), and simmer about 15 minutes until flavors are blended.
 Stir in cream just before serving.

This is what the soup looked like after I stirred the cream in

***Review:
I am still not sure what I think about this soup.  I have a major cold/sinus infection and can't taste much.  Probably a bad time to be taste testing new foods huh?  I didn't like it at all until I added the cream at the end, and then I liked it.  (But I can't be trusted since I couldn't even taste the bitter stuff the dentist put in my mouth yesterday)
2 Children ran to the sink to spit it out immediately...lol   I am guessing it's a thumbs down in the kid area.  It is kind of a savory soup and not really kid friendly I guess.  As of this posting, Hubs is working late and hasn't tasted it yet.  I am definitely curious to see what he will think!
UPDATE:  Hubs loves the soup... says it could use some cheese. Baby also loves the soup, although his opinion is questionable since he is also walking around eating a raw onion. 


**Tips:
If I were to have the motivation (which my cold has sucked from me) I would put this soup in the food processor to blend up all the onion bits... I think that would add to the texture.  Obvioulsy, it's not necessary, but definitely would be good.  Also, you might think of adding a bit less of the chicken broth until you get the texture you're looking for.  I personally, thought it needed to be thicker, but I added the broth in the beginning .
Do NOT forget the cream in this soup... trust me.
As for serving, I would most definitely not eat this alone... it's a very light soup and just wouldn't cut the "meal" status at my house.  I added a little cream on top before serving and if I'd had any, a sprinkle of chives would have looked awesome!  But, sick people don't grocery shop....so I didn't have any.