Recipe: Moroccan Sweet Potato Soup

the appetizer:

150 Best Tagine Recipes, Including Tantalizing Recipes for Spice Blends and Accompaniments by Pat Crocker includes recipes like Moroccan Sweet Potato Soup; Fruits de Mer; and Lamb Tagine with Oranges and Dates.

Moroccan
Sweet Potato Soup

Makes 4 servings

The taste combination of the distinctly Moroccan spice blend and the sweet potatoes along with the coconut milk makes this complex and mildly spicy soup a great starter for a lunch meal or for a soup-salad combo.

2 tbsp avocado or olive oil 30 mL
1 cup chopped onion 250 mL
1 tbsp Bahrat Spice Blend (page 39)
or 15 mL store-bought garam masala
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large dice
1 cup chopped carrot 250 mL
3 cups vegetable broth 750 mL
1/4 cup chopped raisins 60 mL
1 tsp salt 5 mL
1 can (14 oz/400 mL) coconut milk
1/2 cup Drained Yogurt (recipe below) 125 mL
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper 60 mL

1. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and spice blend and cook, stirring, for 6 minutes. Stir in sweet potatoes and carrot. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes.

2. Stir in broth. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Add raisins and salt. Cook for 5 minutes or until all vegetables are soft. Remove from heat.

3. Using a potato masher, roughly mash sweet potato mixture. Stir in coconut milk and yogurt. Return to medium-high heat and heat through. Ladle soup into 4 bowls. Float 1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped red pepper on top of each bowl. Serve immediately.

Drained Yogurt

Makes 2 cups (500 ml) lightly drained or 1-2/3 cups (400 ml) yogurt cheese

Draining yogurt makes it thicker. The longer you let the yogurt drain, the thicker will be the result and if you let it drain overnight, it will resemble soft cream cheese. This is what we mean by the term "yogurt cheese."

2 cups plain yogurt 500 mL

1. Line a strainer with cheesecloth. Set the strainer over a bowl large enough to catch the liquid. Place yogurt in strainer and let drain over the bowl in the refrigerator for 10 minutes for a thick yogurt and as long as overnight for yogurt cheese. Discard liquid.

from:
150 Best Tagine Recipes
Including Tantalizing Recipes for Spice Blends and Accompaniments
by Pat Crocker
Robert Rose 2011
224 pages; Paperback; $24.95
ISBN-10: 0778802795
ISBN-13: 9780778802792
Recipe reprinted by permission.

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