Sweet Potato Soup Recipe

A bunch of people have asked me to post the Sweet Potato Soup recipe. Follow the link to the ever-wonderful Bon Appetit parent website, http://www.epicurious.com/. I found the recipe from one of my magazines, apparently from aught-six.

Few Items to Note
1. Measurements: I am not a fan of precise measurement. I like to experiment a bit, and while I don't usually stray too far from the recipe, I recommend using your best judgement and making the food in a way that makes you happy. More rosemary? Yes please! Less butter? Sure, why not.

2. Sweet potatoes: For the mashed sweet potatoes, in case you don't have any "leftover" for use in this recipe, you can take 3 good sized sweet potatoes, peel the skins off (tried it w/ the skins once, no good), then slice the potato into rounds about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Lightly sprinkle some oil on a baking sheet and spread the rounds out in a single layer. Bake for 20-25 mins at 400 F or until tender. Once tender, take out of the oven and mash them up. No seasoning required.

3. Chicken broth: I use free-range, low-salt organic chicken stock from the store and use at least 4 cups. I think in my last batch I used 6 cups total. Basically, I would recommend starting with 4 cups and adding more based on the consistency you like. It probably also depends on how much potato you stick in the recipe. Again, eyeball it to a place that makes you happiest.

4. Pancetta or Bacon?: I have used pancetta twice in this recipe and bacon once. I ate most of it before it actually got into the soup, every time. Pancetta is less greasy and more salty than bacon. I generally didn't use very much, if any, butter with the pancetta drippings. If you use bacon, you'll have to discard more of the pan drippings and won't need any butter at all. Plus, I recommend a thick-cut bacon if possible.

5. Croutons: I start out by pan-frying the sourdough cubes in the leftover grease/buttery goodness, with lots of rosemary (love that stuff and frankly, it's coming out of my ears here at the house). Then I either bake them to get them all-over crispy or I broil them. Just make sure to keep an eye on them so they don't burn in the oven.

6. Consistency: I highly recommend puree-ing this recipe in your blender after it is all completed, then back to the pot for more heat or from the food processor to the bowl.

Enjoy!