Recipe - Coconut, Sweet Potato and Chilli Soup

When I first started Frazzled Shell, I used to post a lot of recipes. The blog has evolved a lot over the last 11 or 12 years since I've been keeping it, but it suddenly occurred to me that all I seem to do now is post photographs of what I've eaten. I can't remember the last time I posted a recipe. 

It is a bit of a minefield, especially when you're using a cookbook to cook from; these days I use a lot of the Pinch of Nom and Two Chubby Cubs recipes from their stellar cookbooks, and I also use a lot of Slimming Eats and RecipeTin Eats online recipes. I know a lot of people don't care two hoots and will copy a recipe out verbatim, citing that nobody can own a recipe, which is fair enough. But I personally don't want to infringe on anyone's copyright, I don't think it's right. Although, I think there's probably more chance of finding a copy of Pinch of Nom than a Bible in most homes, these days! 

So, anyhoo. Today, I fancied making a nice, thick, hearty soup after being lulled into a false sense of autumn security with this grey and breezy day... (anyone mentions tomorrow's heatwave, and I swear...)

Coconut, Sweet Potato and Chilli Soup

Ingredients

Olive oil

250 g Onion, diced

Garlic, 2 cloves, crushed

250 g Carrots, diced

500 g Sweet Potatoes, diced

400 ml tin of Light Coconut Milk

150 ml Chicken Stock

1 tbsp Tomato Puree

1 tsp Hot Smoked Paprika (or plain paprika if you don't like things too spicy!)

½ tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 Red Chilli Pepper, sliced into rings to garnish

Method:

Put a little olive oil in the bottom of a heavy based pan, and sweat the onion until it has started to soften. Then add the carrot, sweet potato and garlic, stir and cook out for a further minute.

Add the coconut milk, stock, tomato puree, paprika and cayenne pepper, and stir.

Bring the soup to the boil, reduce heat, place a lid on and simmer for about half an hour or until the vegetables are all soft. 

Remove from heat, allow to cool a little, then blend with a stick blender until completely smooth.  Season to taste and add a little chopped red chilli to garnish. 

This soup is absolutely lush. Thick, smoky, spicy. Mine is probably a little spicier due to the fact that I used hot smoked paprika - you could use normal paprika, because the kick from the cayenne and chilli is ample. Also, if you use vegetable stock this soup is suitable for vegans and vegetarians.

I was going to keep some in the fridge for Mr G and I to have for lunch after Slimming World tomorrow but it's promising threatening 23C so sod that. I've frozen the rest in plastic cartons for a later (cooler) date.