Sweet Potato Soup with Apple

It's been a cold weekend (-15) so a pot of soup seemed an appropriate addition to Sunday lunch today. After throwing together Sweet Potato soup based on ingredients I had at hand, I thought it would be nice to make a more thoughtful soup. Thoughtful as in: "I thought ahead of time so have everything I need to make this soup rather than just picking stuff out of my crisper and hoping for the best.". Although that kind of soup can be good too.



The soup that caught my eye while flipping through cookbooks on the couch Friday night was Sweet Potato with Apple and Clove, from Weekend Cooking by Ricardo, a French-Canadian chef who, when I've seen him in action is as bubbly as all get out. Maybe more ebullient than bubbly; you know the type. And he makes a mean soup, as I found out earlier today.

I expected this soup to be sweet (it's right there in the title) but I don't think I expected it to be quite so...smooth. That's the word D. and I landed on to describe this soup. And I don't just mean the texture. This is a pretty simple soup to put together. None of the ingredients are particularly fancy or exotic. And together they are very...smooth. In each spoonful you get to taste it all; the leek, the butter, the apple, the cloves, the chicken broth, and of course the sweet potato. And while the soup is sweet, it's not overly so. It's just the right amount of sweet. Together it all goes down...smoothly. I'm very happy there are leftovers. Our weather outlook improves to -5 on Monday, so it's warming up a bit, but soup will still fit the bill.

Sweet Potato, Apple and Clove Soup

1 leek, white part only, chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1 apple, peeled, seeded and cut into pieces
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken broth
5 cups chicken broth
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

In a saucepan, soften the leek in the butter. Add the apple and sweet potatoes. Deglaze with the white wine. Add the chicken broth and ground cloves. Cover and simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Purée in a blender. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.