Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup
Now that the weather has finally plodded into something resembling fall, soup season is officially on and what better way to ease ourselves into it but with something hovering in the delicious middle-ground between broth and stew.
This middle ground is important, mind you, if you are the kind of person who likes your soups hit up with an immersion blender right before serving and your significant other likes them chunkier. This soup is a bit of both and to top it all off, it’s really easy to make. It’s exactly the kind of recipe you can choose to make late in the afternoon and still eat for dinner. It’s hearty enough to count as a one-pot meal, and instead of relying on umpteen spices for flavor, it coaxes them out of the sausage instead. I am impressed by its efficiency, and I suspect you will be too.
This hearty soup gets rich flavor from linguica, a delicious pork sausage from Portugal seasoned with garlic, paprika, and other spices. Linguica comes in spicy and mild, again the middle ground, I use both.
I am so addicted to this soup, the recipe adapted from Bon Appetit, October 2007, has all of the things that, to me makes soup just about the most perfect meal. Run to your kitchen and make this now, you wont be sorry.
Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 10- to 11-ounce fully cooked smoked Portuguese linguica sausage or chorizo sausage, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (Spanish chorizo can be substituted) I use the Spicy Linguica, the mild is good too, your choice.
2 medium onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams; about 2 large), peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 pound white-skinned potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 9-ounce bag fresh spinach
Directions:
1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook until brown, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Transfer sausage to paper towels to drain. (I poured off some of the oil in the pot at this point, but the original recipe doesn’t think this is needed.)
2. Add onions and garlic to pot and cook until translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
3. Add all potatoes and cook until beginning to soften, stirring often, about 12 minutes.
4. Add broth; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.
5. Using potato masher, mash some of potatoes in pot. Add browned sausage to soup.
6. Stir in spinach and simmer just until wilted, about 5 minutes.
7. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls and serve.
Other options to consider: I like the Spicy Linguica, it plays off the sweet potatoes really well, or you can use Kielbasa instead of chorizo/linguica, adding a can or two of drained white beans or using more spinach. I love spinach wilted in soups and could have used even more.
