Description
This soup is luxurious, creamy, and sweet. It is bursting with flavors of sweet potato and fig. It makes a great appetizer or side soup to any fall-time meal.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes, scrubbed, washed, and dried
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons grapeseed oil, divided
- Fine sea salt
- 1 yellow onion, cut into large wedges
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 4 cups vegetable broth, or chicken broth
- 1/4 –1/2 cup dried figs, depending on how sweet you want your soup to be (I used black mission figs), any stems trimmed off
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional, but recommended: 1 tablespoon fresh chopped tarragon, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut sweet potatoes in half, lengthwise. Brush the flesh with about 1 tablespoon of the grapeseed oil, and sprinkle with salt. Place them face side down on a large rimmed baking sheet that has been lined with foil. Line a second baking sheet with foil, or if there is room, use the same baking sheet and toss the onion wedges with the other tablespoon olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Place the pan(s) in the oven and cook the onions for 15 minutes, stirring half way through. Once they are tender and slightly caramelized remove them from the pan, and set aside.
- Continue to cook the sweet potatoes for another 25 to 30 minutes, totaling 35 to 45 minutes, or until they are fork-tender.
- While the sweet potatoes and onions are roasting make your crunchy chickpeas. Spread the drained and rinsed chickpeas onto a clean kitchen towel. Gently pat them dry. They need to be bone dry, otherwise they won’t crisp up.
- Place the dried chickpeas on a medium-sized baking sheet that has been lined with a silpat mat or parchment paper. Toss them in the 2 teaspoons grapeseed oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Bake in the oven, on the top rack, for 25 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to prevent burning. Once they are mostly crisp remove the chickpeas and toss them with the honey and another sprinkling of salt. Place them back in the oven to caramelize for 5 to 10 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on them, as they can burn easily. Once they are browned, slightly caramelized from the honey and crispy, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool.
- While the sweet potatoes are roasting and the chickpeas are crisping, bring the vegetable broth to a boil in a medium-sized sauce pan. Turn off the heat and add the dried figs, allow them to soak in the warm liquid for at least 10 minutes, or until they are soft. NOTE: I used ½ cup of figs, which had a fairly strong figgy, sweet flavor, which I like. If you are don’t want your soup to be as sweet, or to have a really strong fig flavor, start by soaking ¼ cup figs. You can always add more once the soup is puréed.
- Once the sweet potatoes are roasted remove them from the oven and allow them to cool enough to handle. Using a spoon scoop out the flesh of the sweet potato, leaving the skin behind. Measure out 1 ½ cups of sweet potato flesh. If you have any leftover sweet potatoes you can reserve them for eating as is, or in another recipe. Add the sweet potato flesh to the broth and figs in the pot.
- To the broth, figs, and sweet potatoes add the roasted onion. Use an immersion blender to purée the soup mixture until really smooth. OR transfer the soup to a blender, only filling the blender half way at a time, and process until smooth. Return the mixture back to the pot, and bring to a simmer.
- Taste the soup and determine if you want to add more figs. To add them, simply allow them to soak in the warm soup for 10 minutes, until soft, then purée again. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Once the soup is warmed through serve it in small appetizer bowls. Just before serving top with a few crunchy chickpeas and some chopped tarragon (optional).
- Store the leftover crunchy chickpeas in a jar on the counter. They will stay crisp for a few days, but best when fresh. Store the soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
