Chipotle sweet potato with tortilla croutons recipe

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Ever-expanding international supermarket ranges are proof of a positive sea change in attitudes toward food in recent years. Few ingredients now are deemed too niche to include, and while you’d once (not all that long ago) be struggling to find wonderful ingredients such as chipotle morita chillies, they can now be bought on impulse by the casual, intrigued aisle browser, rather than having to be specifically hunted down by the foodie know-it-all. If you want actual heat, go for two chillies; for a gentle tingle and a hint of that amazing smoky chipotle flavour, just add the one.

  • Yield: 6 Servings

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp olive or rapeseed [canola] oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1–2 chipotle morita chillies, roughly chopped
  • 1¾ lb (800 g) sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1.2 litres [5 cups] vegetable stock
  • grated zest of 1 lime, plus a good squeeze of the juice
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • chopped avocado, to serve
  • coriander [cilantro] leaves, to serve
For the tortilla croutons
  • 2 tortillas, cut into quarters
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika (pimentón dulce)
  • a good sprinkling of sea salt flakes
How to Make It
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (350°F) Gas 4.
  2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan set over low heat and cook the onion and garlic very gently with a good pinch of salt for about 8 minutes, until softening. Add the spices and chillies and stir in, then add the sweet potato and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring until well covered in the spiced oil.
  3. Add the stock, put a lid on the pan and bring the liquid to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat slightly and leave to simmer, still covered, for 15 minutes, or until the sweet potato is tender.
  4. Meanwhile, put the tortilla quarters on a large baking sheet. Combine the oil and smoked paprika in a small bowl and brush this over the tortillas. Turn them over and brush the other sides, too, then sprinkle them generously with sea salt flakes. Pop the sheet in the oven and bake for 5–6 minutes. Turn them over and bake for a further 5–6 minutes, or until they are turning crisp and golden, then remove them from the oven and allow to cool (they will crisp up a little more as they cool down).
  5. Once the sweet potato is cooked, blend the soup with a stick blender or transfer to a liquidizer and blitz until smooth. Add the lime zest and juice, season to taste and blitz again to combine.
  6. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and top with the chopped avocado. Snap the baked tortillas into shard-like croutons and scatter a few of them over the top of the soup, serving any extra in a bowl on the side. Finally, sprinkle the bowls with a few coriander leaves, and serve.
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