Recipe: Spicy Sweet Potato and Chipotle Soup

Here's the new recipe I'll be serving this year:

1 large onion, sliced into rings

3 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

1 T ground cumin

5 cups chicken broth

4 large sweet potatoes, diced

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, diced

(add 1 t. adobo sauce for spicier soup)

1 cup half and half

Sweat onions in 2 T olive oil, about 6 minutes.  Don't brown.  Add garlic and cumin and cook another 2 minutes.  Add broth, diced sweet potatoes, chipotle and sauce.  Simmer for about 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are soft but not mushy.

Turn off heat, strain the broth and transfer solids to food processor and process until smooth.  Add a couple of ladles of broth if needed.  Reserve remaining broth.  Return sweet potatoes to pan and add just enough broth to make a thick soup.  Then add the half and half and heat gently.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and top with chives.

(I got a bit carried away with the adobo sauce and our soup has quite a bit of heat.  One teaspoon would probably have been enough.  I added a heaping tablespoon which is definitely too much.  This is a very fragrant soup and even with the extra heat, it is very flavorful!  I'll try to post a photo later if I remember to take one before serving.)