Sweet Potato Soup

It's the Sunday after Pesach and I did not plan on making soup. I thought soup season and #soupsunday ended. The Sunday before Pesach it was very warm and I actually didn't share a new soup recipe on my Instagram page and instead shared a recipe for gazpacho the bright and flavorful cold soup perfect for summer days. I decided that the gazpacho recipe would be the final soup recipe I would be sharing to close up this #soupsunday season. However, this past Friday the temperature dropped and the wind picked up and it felt like a day in mid-January, not April. So when I woke up today to grey skies and chilly winter air aka soup weather I decided to make a big pot of creamy comforting sweet potato soup.

This soup is made from basic pantry staples and has a few simple steps that result in a very flavorful cozy soup. 

I think that often sweet potato soups become just orange vegetable soups and you can't discern what vegetables and flavors are in the soup. I like when a soup has a distinct flavor of the vegetable like this carrot soup which is just a potful of sweet carrot flavor enhanced by a few aromatics. When creating this sweet potato soup recipe I wanted to do the same thing. This soup has a strong flavor of creamy sweet potato but also has the subtle flavor of spices that add depth and aroma. 

Make this soup today or save this recipe for the next time it's rainy out. 

Sweet Potato Soup 

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil 

1 large onion, diced 

Salt

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1/8 tsp cumin 

1/4 tsp cracked black pepper 

2 medium sweet potatoes about 1.5 lbs / 800 grams, peeled and cut into chunks 

2/3 cup dry or semi-dry white wine*

2 1/2 - 3 cups

In a medium-sized pot heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion along with a good pinch of salt and cook until the onion starts to become translucent and slightly golden around the edges about 8 minutes. While the onion cooks peel and cube the sweet potatoes. Add the garlic, cinnamon, and cumin to the pot and cook for another minute until fragrant. Add the sweet potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the white wine and scrape up anything stuck to the bottom of the pot and cook for about 3 minutes until the wine has reduced. Add the water just to cover everything in the pot and add another pinch of salt. Don't add all 3 cups of water start out with 2 1/2 cups and if you need more water to thin out the soup you can add it after it's blended. Bring it to a boil then reduce the heat cover the pot and allow the soup to simmer for about 30 minutes until everything is tender. 

Remove the pot from the heat and blend the soup using an immersion blender. You can use a stand blender just be sure to work in batches and make sure to remove the small plastic cap in the cover and place a kitchen towel over the top being very careful with the build-up of steam. 

Whichever method you choose just blend until smooth, then add the remaining teaspoon of olive oil. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed. If the soup is too thick for you add a little more water. 

Yield: 4 portions 

*White wine - there is 2/3 of a cup in the recipe - please use a wine that you would drink, a wine that you enjoy because why would you add something that doesn't taste good to your soup? If you don't have any wine on hand you can use 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice or 2 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar and 1/4 cup of water.