I can’t explain how much I love this soup, I almost don’t want to share it. What if you fall in love with it and buy all the sweet potatoes. There seems to be a shortage locally as it is – the other week Morrisons had none and Sainsbury’s were limited to Taste the Difference ones. At 3x the price I’d certainly hope the difference would be there, but I’m not splashing the cash to find out!
Packed full of veg, healthy carbs from the sweet potato, it works out at around 100 calories a bowl. Spiced up enough for the chilli heat to catch the back of your throat, the hotness is counteracted by the sharpness of lime and freshness of coriander. A swirl of sour cream finishes off this Mexican inspired soup.
But don’t let Mexican flavours define it. Swap out the lime for a lemon, the coriander for mint. Sprinkle with feta…and there you have a Greek inspired version. Add harissa, lemon and some toasted seeds and it becomes vaguely Moroccan. A stunningly versatile soup, and one of my absolute favourites.
Ingredients (six bowls worth)
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 2 carrots
- 2-3 sticks of celery
- 1 onion
- 1 red pepper
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 liter of veg stock
- Tabasco
- Lemon or lime (juice of half)
- Herbs and spices (pick to reflect the cuisine you fancy!)
Chop the veg. I don’t both to peel the carrots, but do peel the sweet potato. Dry fry the onion in a hot pan for a minute, until it starts to soften (you can skip this, I just can’t stand the smell of onion boiled from raw!). Add any spices being used along with the onion so they cook out slightly.
Add the rest of the veg, cover with the veg stock and simmer for around half an hour, until everything is relatively soft. Whizz until smooth (or as chunky/smooth as you fancy). Add your
Tabasco to taste (I used about half a teaspoon).
Stir through your herbs and lemon/lime juice, and serve with a swirl of soured cream, creme fraiche or anything else you fancy.
Disclaimer: As with my courgette fritter recipe, I was asked to create some recipes with Tabasco. No money exchanged hands and all opinions are my own – I’ve been making this for years, but genuinely love the addition of tabasco!
Are you a fan of soups, or are you steering clear now the weather is warming up?
