Spicy African Peanut Soup

Sackville's Note:

We served this on Christmas Eve to friends and family and it was a universal hit! Very filling and its orange colour looks beautiful in a bowl.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 3 cups stock or 3 cups water
• 2 slices fresh ginger
• 1 sweet potato , peeled and chopped
• 2 carrots , chopped
• 1 yellow pepper , chopped
• ½ teaspoon cayenne or 2 fresh chili peppers
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 onions , chopped
• 3 green onions , chopped
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 1 cup tomato juice
• 2 garlic cloves , chopped
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over high heat.
2. Add pepper, ginger, carrots, garlic, onions and cayenne or chilies.
3. Cook for 2 minutes, then add potato and stock.
4. Bring to the boil and simmer 10 minutes.
5. Transfer the vegetables to a food processor and purée until smooth.
6. Return the purée to the saucepan and stir in peanut butter and tomato juice or mash the vegetables in the saucepan until slightly lumpy.
7. Add sugar, salt and pepper.
8. Serve sprinkled with green onions.

Reviews

[yogi]

Delicious! I wasn't sure about the peanut flavor with soup, but it works surprisingly well. I altered a few things to what I had on hand (used less bell pepper, and honey roast peanut butter - omitting sugar.) I'm the only soup & vegie lover in my house, but I'm sure I'll finish off this pot of soup all by myself.

[JustJanS]

I made this as a trial for work on Monday. It is so good I can't believe it. Easy, fast, tasty and beautiful to look at, just what I wanted for my dinner next week (and I'm so glad that we got to eat the trial run!) I used a reduced-fat PB, added a tablespoon of lemon juice, and garnished the soup with cilantro. Thanks Friedel for a great recipe-now I must try your other soup (Garlic, Chick-pea and Spinach) I have in my cookbook.

[SarahCKS]

I made this recipe last night, and it is truly amazing. It upstaged everything else I served at dinner. I followed the recipe mostly to the letter, though I did saute the vegetables a bit longer, and also simmered them in the water a bit longer. I used a red bell pepper instead of yellow, because yellow are a lot more expensive, and I used a can of sweet potatoes so I wouldn't have to peel and cut a fresh potato. It all turned out wonderfully. This is my new favorite soup recipe!