I actually like winter. I love the cosiness of the kitchen with Stanley humming away. I look forward to cooking delicious long, slow soups and casseroles, stacking on an extra pound or two because I bake more often and warming my bum in front of the fire.
Much as I love and crave them at the end of winter, I’m completely over salads by this time of the year, so I’m embarking on my normal winter culinary habits regardless of the weather. I found a beautiful, big, sweet potato lurking in the potato box just begging to be made into something special and that is just too simple to do with the addition of some of the fragrant, sweet spices used in Moroccan cooking.
Smugly pulling out some frozen stock and a container of cooked chickpeas from my freezer (see my post on cooking them in the slow cooker and freezing them), this rich, fragrant soup was on the table in no time.
You could forgo the pureeing if you prefer your soups chunky rather than smooth, but be sure not to miss out on the final step in this recipe. Those last two ingredients really do kick this soup up a notch or two.
Moroccan Sweet Potato & Chick Pea Soup
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I used 200gms of cooked chickpeas. If you don’t cook them yourself, just open a can!
Serves: 6
Ingredients
50 mls olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
1 can chickpeas
1 litre lamb stock (or veal or chicken – whatever)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp sweet paprika
salt
pepper
juice of ½ lemon
honey
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Instructions
1.Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium flame, add onions and saute gently until they are transparent, adding the garlic towards the end to prevent it burning.
2. Add all the spices and stir over heat for a minute or two, until fragrant.
3. Add sweet potatoes and stir to coat evenly with spices.
4. Add stock and bring to boil. Simmer gently until the sweet potato is soft, adding the chick peas towards the end.
5. When cooked cool slightly before pureeing, in batches, in a food processor until smooth.
6. Return to pot over a low flame, add more stock or water if too thick, and reheat.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Just before serving add the lemon juice and one dessertspoon of honey, blending completely.
South Australia-based Amanda McInerney is author of Lambs’ Ears & Honey blog, where you will find more mouth-watering recipes and stories about SA food producers.
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