Lots of flavors going on in this soup and it’s easy to make. The toppings? Chopped peanuts and chopped cilantro plus a drizzle of cream. I’m SO glad I have leftovers.
Back about 9 years ago I posted this soup and hadn’t made it in the interim. I’d attended a birthday party back then, for my friend Cherrie (I think it was when she turned 50) and her friend Robin (the hostess) served the previous version of this soup. There was no particular reason that I forgot about it – except that when you run a food blog, as I’ve mentioned here before, you always need to be trying NEW soups, not old ones. However, I was entertaining a group of women for an event at my house (10 of us) and didn’t want risk to be a factor – I needed a tried and true recipe. I did make a few changes to the soup, though, so it is slightly different than the old recipe. The friends came to watch a movie (A Man Called Ove) and to have lunch and dessert.
The soup – – it starts out with sweet potatoes. You could use either kind (yellow or orange) but I chose the orange because of color only. The potatoes are coated in peanut oil and roasted. The original recipe called for a boat load of oven-roasted Roma tomatoes – I decided to change that – I used San Marzano canned tomatoes which should be just as good. There’s onion, garlic, curry powder and cayenne in it too, plus chicken broth and coconut milk. And chicken pieces, and peanut butter (a lot, actually, but this recipe makes a lot of soup) plus the toppings. I wanted to have a bit more texture to the soup (because you blend the soup to smooth without the chicken). So, I bought a pound of butternut squash and roasted it in the oven, even broiled them at the last minute to get some lovely caramelization on them, chopped them up and those are kind of hidden underneath the little pile of nuts and cilantro in the picture.
As with most soups, they’re so much better the next day, so I did that and merely had to re-heat the soup and prepare the toppings and I was ready to serve it to my friends. The drizzle of cream wasn’t in the original (you could use a drizzle of coconut milk if you wanted to be more authentic). You don’t taste the peanut butter, which is surprising since there was 3/4 cup of it in the soup. I’ve added my new photo to the old post since the photo I had before wasn’t all that great. Boy, I’ve come a long way taking photos for my blog!
What’s GOOD: uhmmmm, this soup is so delish. Love the smooth texture, but also the toppings – the crunch of the peanuts particularly. You could easily make this vegetarian if you want to, by using vegetable broth and no chicken. The soup itself is thick (hearty). You could try different toppings if you prefer to. Freezes well.
What’s NOT: there are a variety of steps to make this – roasting the sweet potatoes and the butternut squash (ideally do those at the same time, or use only sweet potatoes and no butternut squash). I have a good Vitamix blender which did a really good job of smoothing out the soup, but you could use an immersion blender too.
printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook 15/16 file (click link to open recipe)
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Senegalese Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup with Chicken
Recipe By: Originally from Emeril Lagasse, but adapted
Serving Size: 10
1 1/4 pounds sweet potatoes — yellow or orange
12 ounces butternut squash — (approximate) seeded, peeled, cut into 1″ pieces
1/4 cup peanut oil — divided uses
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 large garlic cloves — minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper — (use more if you’d like)
1 1/2 quarts low sodium chicken broth
28 ounces canned tomatoes — San Marzano type
3/4 cup peanut butter — smooth type
20 ounces coconut milk — use full fat
2 teaspoons salt — or more to taste
3/4 teaspoon white pepper — or more to taste
2 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
GARNISH:
4 tablespoons fresh cilantro — minced
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
10 tablespoons heavy cream — or coconut milk
NOTE: the butternut squash is used as a garnish, not to be pureed into the soup.
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. In a large bowl place the sweet potatoes that have been cut into large chunks. Use a small part of the oil to coat the pieces and pour out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Do the same with the butternut squash on a separate baking sheet.
3. Roast the sweet potatoes and butternut squash for about 45-50 minutes until they’re just fork tender. Remove and set aside to cool. Remove skins from the sweet potatoes and discard.
4. In a large pot, use the remaining oil and heat it until it begins to shimmer. Add the curry powder and gently saute it for 30-45 seconds while the oil bubbles. Do not burn. Add the chopped onion and stir frequently as the onion softens, 3-4 minutes. Add garlic, cayenne, then the chicken broth. As it heats to a simmer, add the peanut butter and stir well, breaking up the pieces. Add the coconut milk, canned tomatoes and the reserved sweet potatoes and bring soup to a full simmer, reduce heat, cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Puree soup in a blender until smooth, or use an immersion blender in the soup pot.
5. CHICKEN: Cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Coat with peanut oil, salt and pepper and bake them for about 10 minutes at 350°F. You can use the same baking sheet you used for the sweet potatoes. Do not overcook – you want them to be just barely cooked through. Remove and cool. Add to the soup, or keep them separate and add a portioned amount to each bowl.
6. BUTTERNUT SQUASH: Even though you’ve cooked the butternut squash, it’s nice to have the small pieces caramelize. Just before serving, chop the squash into small bite-sized pieces and place on the same parchment-lined baking sheet and broil them until the edges have begun to brown.
7. TOPPINGS: Prepare the minced cilantro and peanuts. When serving, scoop about 1 1/2 cups of soup into a wide bowl, add the caramelized butternut squash pieces, chicken (if you didn’t add it into the soup before), chopped peanuts and cilantro. Use a soup spoon and drizzle a tablespoon of cream or coconut milk around each serving.
Per Serving: 628 Calories; 40g Fat (55.0% calories from fat); 43g Protein; 30g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 86mg Cholesterol; 1043mg Sodium.
Toffeeapple
said on December 8th, 2017:
Oh dear, you know why I won’t be trying this one…
Are the fires lessening over there? We don’t hear about it on our news (all about Brexit right now) any more. Most of the UK has some snow but we have gorgeous blue skies and sunshine!
I saw ISS twice today, I love watching it go over but don’t know why it appeals to me so much.
The fires are still raging in many places, none near me, thank goodness. So many homes lost, animals (mostly horses) killed by smoke or fire, and over 10,000 people evacuated in one fire alone north of Los Angeles. Two good friends of mine nearly lost their homes in the last 2 days. Both are okay, thankfully. Everyone has the TV on, watching the local stations who are covering the fires 24/7. So far there has been no loss of human life, mostly because people do evacuate when the officials tell them to – not delaying as some do, waiting until the fires are much closer. I’m okay – nothing near me or even distantly near me. I did have to evacuate about 6 weeks ago (don’t know if I mentioned it here on my blog or not) when fires started very near me. Some homes burned and the fires destroyed tens of thousands of acres of national forest and a beautiful park not too far from me, one that is used every day by hundreds of people who do active walking. Thanks for asking. . . carolyn t
Toffeeapple
said on December 13th, 2017:
Thanks for the update. It must be a constant worry for those concerned. Are the lost homes covered by insurance?
If you own a home and have a mortgage on the home, you have to carry insurance on the dwelling. However, some insurance has a very high deductible to be paid by the owner (first) before any insurance money can be paid. But there is a lot of bureaucratic red tape that has to happen first – assessors, adjusters, and likely a myriad of customer service calls, piles of forms, etc. before they do anything. Often outbuildings (like stables, for instance) aren’t covered. All of the thoroughbred racing horses that were lost probably had insurance on them, but it’s never enough to replace a race horse! I’m certain many of the people who lost their homes didn’t carry sufficient insurance, if they carried it at all. I heard on the radio yesterday that 49,000 people have been evacuated because of these recent firestorms. The one near Santa Barbara is still raging, and is only 25% contained (not good!). . . c
Toffeeapple
said on December 15th, 2017:
So more than a double worry in that case. I feel so very sorry for those people affected.