jamie oliver's sweet potato and chorizo soup

I love my french fries, hash browns and mashed potatoes but most days out of the year, I prefer sweet potatoes instead. Maybe it's the fact they're healthier for you, the delicate sweetness or the diverse varieties of sweet potatoes. Whatever the reason, it's one of my favorite vegetables to eat.

The weather kinda sucks in Georgia right now - it's awesome and sunny one day and then it'll be cold, rainy and miserable for the next 5 days. The answer to this of course is a generous bowl of comforting soup throughout the day.

I've been cooking a lot out of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and I'm slowly starting to make my through all of Jamie's soup recipes. I love how the book has easy, simple yet tasty recipes that I really think anyone can make at home. This sweet potato and chorizo soup is a delicious play on sweet, savory and spiciness. It's hearty and it's something I looked forward to eating every day (until it ran out). If a kitchen idiot like me can make it, so can you! Pass it on!

Jamie Oliver's Sweet Potato and Chorizo Soup

Adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution, Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients:

- 2 medium carrots, diced

- 2 celery stalks, diced

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced

- 2 lbs sweet potato, peeled and diced

- 1/2 lb chorizo sausage, sliced

- a handful of fresh parsley leaves, rough chop

- 2 quarts of chicken stock, or enough to cover everything

- 1 big teaspoon of curry powder (don't be shy)

- fresh red chile for garnish

1) Get your "meez" together. It's the hardest part of making this dish. Seriously. Don't worry about perfect dices either - a rough work will do. We're gonna blend everything anyways.

2) Add olive oil to a hot pot and add the vegetables, chorizo and parsley. Season with the curry powder. If your chorizo came in a casing, remove it from the casing because we don't want long strands of sinews in our soup at the end. Or...at least I don't.

3) Cook for about 10 minutes until the onions are tender and slightly browned on the edges.

4) Add chicken stock to the vegetables just enough to cover everything. Raise the heat to high and bring this sucka to a boil.

5) Once at a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and keep cooking for 10 more minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender and cooked through.

6) Season with salt and pepper and then transfer to a blender. Puree until thickened to your liking. Remember to start out with a moderate amount of liquid so you can adjust the consistency if it's too thick - you can always add but never take away. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.

*Do I need to remind you again to hold the top of the blender with a towel unless you want hot soup causing 2nd degree burns to your hands and/or face?

7) Garnish with fresh red chiles and eat away!

This is probably going to be the last soup for awhile until I can get a new blender or immersion blender. The bottom plastic part that prevents everything from spilling out cracked on me after making this soup. Does anyone want to buy me a Vita-Mix? :-)