West African Peanut Soup
Recipe by Speleothing Wikified by Drimble Wedge
This comes from a cookbook, but I love it too much not to share. Would eat this every day.
As found in Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant.
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 1 Tbsp peanut or vegetable oil
- ½ tsp cayenne or other round chiles
- 1 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger root
- 1 cup chopped carrots (chop them very fine or grate if you don’t have a blender available)
- 2 cups chopped sweet potato
- 4 cups vegetable stock or water
- 2 cups tomato juice
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1 cup chopped scallions or chives (These are an integral part of the soup, not a garnish.)
Sauté the onions in the oil until just translucent. Stir in the cayenne and fresh ginger. Add the carrots and sauté a couple more minutes. Mix in the potatoes and stock or water, bring the soup to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
Using a blender, purée the vegetables with the cooking liquid and the tomato juice. (If a blender is not available, a vigorous and thorough mashing may substitute). Return the purée to the soup pot. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Taste the soup, its sweetness will depend on the sweetness of the carrots and sweet potatoes. If it’s not there add just a little sugar to enhance the other flavors. Feel free to refrigerate this base for up to a week.
Reheat the soup gently, being sure to prevent scorching. If necessary, you can add more water, stock or tomato juice for a thinner soup. Serve topped with plenty of scallions or chives.
