Description
A pureed vegetable soup can be an impressive, easy and affordable first course for an elegant dinner, or even a light dinner on its own with salad and bread.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds peeled raw sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 large onion, cut into large dice
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 pinch sugar
- 3 large garlic cloves, thickly sliced
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 cups chicken broth, homemade or from a carton or can
- 1 ½ cups half-and-half (or whole milk)
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- Garnish: chopped honey-roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large
- deep saute pan until shimmering.
- Add sweet potatoes
- then onion; saute
- stirring very little at first
- then more frequently
- until vegetables start to turn golden brown
- 7 to 8 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and add butter
- sugar and garlic; continue cooking until all vegetables are a rich spotty caramel color
- about 10 minutes longer.
- Add ginger
- nutmeg and cayenne pepper; continue to saute until fragrant
- 30 seconds to 1 minute longer.
- Add broth; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer
- partially covered
- until sweet potatoes are tender
- about 10 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender or traditional blender
- puree until very smooth
- 30 seconds to 1 minute. (If using a traditional blender
- vent it either by removing the lid’s pop-out center or by lifting one edge of the lid. Drape the blender canister with a kitchen towel. To ‘clean’ the canister
- pour in a little half-and-half
- blend briefly
- then add to the soup.)
- Return to pan (or a soup pot); add enough half-and-half so the mixture is souplike
- yet thick enough to float garnish. Taste
- and add salt and pepper if needed. Heat through
- ladle into bowls
- garnish and serve.
Servings: 8