Spiced Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup
This spiced root vegetable soup is the perfect cold weather pick-me-up. Take it with you on the go or enjoy at home.
Introduction
What’s not to like about this colourful soup on a cold day? It’s packed with healthy vegetables and anti-inflammatory spices and aromatics. Plus it keeps well for up to 5 days in a sealed container in the fridge.
Ingredients
| 3 tbsp | olive oil |
| 1 | onion, chopped |
| 3 | garlic cloves, crushed |
| 2.5cm/1in piece of | fresh ginger, peeled and diced |
| 4 | large carrots, chopped |
| 3 | celery sticks, diced |
| 500g/1lb 2oz | sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks |
| 600ml/1 pint | hot vegetable stock |
| 240ml/8fl oz | coconut milk |
| 2 tsp | ground turmeric |
| ½ tsp | ground cumin |
| ½ tsp | grated nutmeg |
| A handful of | parsley, finely chopped |
| 6 | extra-thin rashers smoked bacon or pancetta |
| salt and freshly ground black pepper |
Method
Prep: 20 mins. Cook: 30–35 mins.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan set over a low to medium heat. Cook the onion, garlic, ginger, carrots, celery and sweet potatoes for 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender but not coloured.
Add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat immediately and simmer for 15 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender.
Blitz the soup in batches in a blender or food processor until it is thick, velvety and smooth. Return to the pan.
Stir in the coconut milk and ground spices and reheat gently over a low heat. If the soup is too thick, just add some more coconut milk. Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in the parsley.
Meanwhile, place a large frying pan over a medium to high heat and cook the bacon or pancetta, turning once, until golden brown and crisp. Remove and blot with kitchen paper.
Ladle the soup into 4 shallow bowls or Food Pots and crumble the crispy bacon over the top.
Tip: There’s no need to add oil to the pan when you cook the bacon. Enough fat will run out of it to crisp it up.
Or try this: Use pumpkin instead of sweet potatoes. Add a diced potato, butternut squash or some swede. Add some paprika (sweet or smoked). Fry a diced chilli with the onion and garlic or add some chilli powder with the spices. Top the soup with fried, thinly sliced mushrooms.
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