Roasted Sweet Potato & Ginger Soup

5 Ingredient Soup!

Caramelised roasted sweet potato soup with a good ginger kick. Just what the doctor will order on a cold and rainy autumn day.

Once the sweet potatoes are roasted you can have a soup ready in a matter of minutes.

This soup is a good way to illustrate how the ‘way’ you cook something can add to the overall flavour of the soup. By roasting the sweet potatoes in their skins we are keeping all the sweet and caramelised flavours within. By sweating the onions and finely sliced carrots together, covered, you are gently cooking them together, letting them release their natural juices and sweetness, the liquid being released will form the base of our soup. Brilliant!

I used ghee (see note) instead of olive oil in the recipe which lends a sweetness to the soup but olive oil works perfectly and makes the soup vegan.

Getting Ahead: you can roast the sweet potatoes well ahead of making the soup, even the previous day. The soup can also benefit from being made a day or two ahead.

Seasonal Swops: I try to make this soup when I can find orange sweet potatoes but white sweet potatoes (yams) could also work.  You can use butternut, roast whole skin and all in the oven, adjusting the cooking times. You can also use any root veggies like, parsnips or celeriac, by chopping them into small pieces & roasting them until soft.

The soup will be amazing with a thick chunk of soda bread generously buttered.

a medium saucepan, roasting tray and a hand blender or food processor.

• 1kg orange sweet potatoes, skin on, washed
• 230g carrots, peeled, finely sliced
• 1 large red onion, finely sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil or ghee
• 3 tablespoons grated ginger
• 1.4l veggie stock
• salt
• handful of coriander, leaves picked, chopped finely (opt)

1. Preheat the oven to 200c and roast the sweet potatoes until soft – about 40minutes.
2. Meanwhile, add the olive oil or ghee to a medium saucepan and melt until bubbly, add the onions and carrots and a pinch of salt, cook covered on a low temperature, turning occasionally, until the carrots and onions are falling apart. TIP: when lifting the lid to turn your veggies, make sure the water created by the steam inside the pot drips back into the saucepan, this helps to keep all the moisture inside the saucepan.
3. Add the ginger and stir to combine.
4. Once the sweet potatoes are soft, remove the flesh from the skin and add the sweet potatoes to the saucepan, stir to combine everything well.
5. Add the stock and combine.
6. With your hand blender or food processor (in batches), blend to your liking – I like my soup to be chunky.
7. The final seasoning is important so season with salt and more ginger.

Ghee is cultured butter, the process being, heating butter until the white milk solids rise to the top, the solids are skimmed and you are left with a lactose free butter. Ghee is generously used in Indian cooking and the flavour is deep, rich and with caramel notes.