Thursday, June 09, 2011

Apple and Sweet Potato Soup

Apple and Sweet Potato Soup c2-w

It was this post that set me off about a year ago. Those beautifully crisp apple slices were the thing that grabbed my attention, and then of course reading through the ingredient list piqued my interest even further. Apples in soup? Hmmmm. Yep, that Nina sure knows how to make the little people (that'd be me) sit up and take notice.

Alas, the little people (ie me) is not only easy to excite, but are also procrastinators of note, which is why it took me a full year to actually act on that original impulse. Yeah I know, bad bad blogger. But in my defense, I am at least (at a snail's pace) trying to whittle away at the large pile of "recipes-to-try". Thank goodness it's a  virtual pile, otherwise I would've been engulfed in the thing by now. I'm telling you, my delicious corner is an explosion waiting to happen. Don't say I didn't warn you. You went ahead and clicked on that link didn't you? Yeah, I also never heed warnings. 

But wait, we were talking about apples weren't we? And soup. I had to add sweet potatoes. Because ... uh, I like 'em and they're in season and there are few things more perfect in soup than sweet potato. You heard it here first. You can thank me later. Added a few crumbled strips of crispy fried bacon (thank you bacon & banana sandwich leftovers!) as garnish along with some freshly diced sweetly-sour Granny Smiths and dinner was born. And it was gooooood. And if you don't believe me, well then you are clearly unaware of the fantastic combo that pork and apples make. Excellent stuff, I'm telling ya.

I'm submitting this to the Monthly Mingle for June - Apple Affection, hosted by Nina and masterminded by Meeta.

Apple and Sweet Potato Soup c-w

Apple and Sweet Potato Soup
A Creative Pot original (inspired by Roasted Apple & Sweet Onion Soup)
Serves 4 - 6

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 allspice berries
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
4 Granny Smith apples, cored and roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup milk
salt, to taste
roughly 125g streaky bacon, crisped in a hot oven
1 Granny Smith apple, finely chopped (optional)

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onions, sauteeing until softened and glazed looking. Add allspice, sweet potatoes and apples, along with vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
2. Cook over low heat, semi-covered until the potatoes are soft, then using a stick blender, puree the soup. 
3. Stir through milk, enough water to ensure the consistency you prefer (more water = thinner consistency) and add salt to taste. 
4. Ladle into soup bowls, crumble bacon over the top and scatter with chopped apple. Serve with toast rectangles.


This dish can easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the crispy fried bacon and replacing with croutons. Although in that case I'd encourage garlic-y, cheesy croutons. You have to get your kicks somewhere, right?

16 comments:

Nina Timm on June 09, 2011 6:40 pm said...

Fabulous Marisa and thanks for the mention. Please do enter this soup in the Monthly Mingle and well you've guessed it, the theme is apples!!
http://www.my-easy-cooking.com/2011/06/have-apple-affection-for-our-monthly.html

Joanne on June 09, 2011 10:40 pm said...

Apples always seem to be available at the farmer's markets here in NYC...which means it's still totally seasonal for me to make this! Score.

Anonymous said...

What a heavenly combination, sweet potatoes, apples and bacon.
:-) Mandy

Juanita on June 10, 2011 10:38 pm said...

Those photos are so pretty, Marisa!
I must say, personally I'd go for it for the comfort quotient on a Wintery night and replace milk with fattening, delicious, creamy cream :-)

Butterfingers on June 11, 2011 12:10 am said...

You've combined three of my favourite things! I am definitely making this soup sometime - probably next week, it's more likely to be enjoyable when the weather's cold.

Jeanne CookSister! on June 13, 2011 9:53 am said...

WHY DO YOU TORTURE US SO?! Adore this combo of flavours, especially the addition of the bacon :)

Yum Yucky on June 13, 2011 6:24 pm said...

That soup looks ahhh-mazing. And as for the bacony touch? I'm speechless.

pinkpolkadot on June 13, 2011 10:47 pm said...

This looks absolutely delicious!! I hope that you are well?

Rob said...

I think that the apple taste really complements the sweetness in the sweet potatoes. You really did a good job bring out the flavor in this recipe. I tend not to comment on recipes, but after I made this I had to. Thanks a lot for the recipe.

-Rob
Recipe Contests

Simply Life on June 22, 2011 1:30 pm said...

oh what a fabulous idea for soup!

Simply Life on June 22, 2011 1:30 pm said...

oh what a fabulous idea for soup!

Plateful on June 23, 2011 12:21 pm said...

This sounds like an intriguing combo. Never tasted apples in soup - would love to try! Your pictures are gorgeous. I've been looking around and I loved them all ..:)

Double Glazing on June 26, 2011 9:49 am said...

This looks really yummy! I haven't tried combining apple and potato before. But, I think that it turned out really good in here. I must as well cook this recipe for myself.

Sally - My Custard Pie on July 13, 2011 1:09 am said...

Really lovely soup from the Queen of Mingles.

Jass on July 19, 2011 7:34 pm said...

This looks so lovely and probably tastes nice. I might have to give it a go but I might have to skip the bacon as I'm a vegetarian!

(read my blog swap!)

Pi Chuey on August 26, 2011 6:04 pm said...

this is really something... will start to cook again... thanks for the recipe :)

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