by Caitlin
Well that name's kind of a mouthful, isn't it? (No pun intended.)
Over the weekend I had a lingering pile of sweet potatoes and cauliflower that needed to be used. A creamy bisque sounded just right, but as I'm off dairy that was a no go. I decided to sub coconut milk for the cream, and what better to pair with coconut milk than curry? I've never really come up with a recipe before, where I measure and pay attention to steps and write things down, but I'm glad I did for this one, and I'm sharing it with you here today!
Mmm, yellow-y curry onions.
A few notes. I originally used Lite coconut milk to cut back on fat, but that was a mistake. I ended up adding some coconut manna that I had on hand to make up the difference and give it a creamy boost. (Coconut manna is just pureed dried coconut; sometimes also called coconut butter.)
Let the vegetables cook until they're tender, but not completely mushy. Otherwise ... well, your soup will taste like overcooked vegetables. To ensure the creamiest consistency, I cooked the stock and vegetables until the sweet potatoes were very easily pierced with a fork (almost falling apart), pureed with my stick blender, waited 10 or 15 minutes, and pureed it again.
I call for 3 large sweet potatoes, and a medium head of cauliflower but the size of your veg isn't as important as having a roughly 2:1 sweet potato:cauliflower ratio: to get the consistency right, otherwise your soup will be on the grainier side.
I used about half and half of Penzey's Maharajah Curry Powder and their Sweet Curry Powder. I added the curry in different stages, as at first I didn't want to overdo it and didn't know how much I'd need. As a bonus, the taste of herbs and spices change throughout the cooking process so adding the curry in stages - during saute, while cooking, and when almost finished - helps build the flavor and make sure this subtle soup is still flavorful. At the first taste it might seem a little too subtle, but give it a chance: it builds with each bite. That said, make sure you season it well with salt and pepper to bring out the flavor and if in the end you think it needs more curry then have at it!
You can easily make it vegan by using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. It's a great way to use up the beautiful fall produce that's so abundant now, and it's pretty inexpensive to boot. This would be delightful alongside a crispy, crunchy, creamy, chewy, big fat sourdough grilled cheese on a cold Autumn day.
Hard to photograph, but you get the idea. Photos are mine.
Have you made a version of this soup before? Let me know if you try it!
Coconut Curry Cauliflower Sweet Potato Soup
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-2 inch pieces
medium head cauliflower, cleaned and chopped into 1-2 inch pieces (Use the stems/core pieces, not just the florets!)
1 large onion & 3 shallots, diced
1 tablespoon-ish Olive oil
chicken stock
1 can coconut milk
2.5 teaspoons curry powder, divided
salt & pepper to taste
Sauté onion & shallots in olive oil until translucent, avoid letting them brown. LOW AND SLOW, about 20 minutes. Season with salt early on to draw out the water.
Add 1 teaspoon curry powder to the onions. Sauté until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add peeled and prepped cauli and sweet potato pieces. Add coconut milk. Add stock until veg are just covered - should take 6-8 cups. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and summer until veg are soft, add 1 teaspoon curry powder. Purée with stick blender.
Taste for seasoning - add salt & pepper.
Let cook 10-15 more minutes, purée again. Add remaining half teaspoon curry powder.
Voila!
