Concentrating
on soup

I can’t stop thinking about soup.

I mean, it makes sense: As I said in the Instagram Reel announcing my Boston Globe soup newsletter, it’s winter, it’s cold, and that means we need soup. As I put the finishing touches on that newsletter’s third email, going out on Thursday, you might think I’d want to have other things on my mind, but, well, soup is eternal.

When Globe editor David Beard interviewed me recently about the Winter Soup Club, he got me thinking about Campbell’s canned soup and my own history with it. I talked about how my dear late mother opened plenty of them when I was growing up in the 1970s and ‘80s, not to serve as soup but to use as an ingredient in other recipes. Meatloaf With Cream of Mushroom Soup Gravy, anyone? Anyone?

Table of Contents

• I break for animals: Mango

• Recipe: Sweet Potato and Orange Soup With Smoky Pecans

• More favorite sweet potato soup recipes

The brilliance of Campbell’s was summarized in one crucial adjective that appears in faint letters at the top edge of their labels these days: “CONDENSED.” As everybody knows, you thin them out with water, turning them from glop to soup.

I told David that I don’t think I’ve ever opened a can of soup that I didn’t feel compelled to doctor so much with my own ingredients that I might as well have started from scratch. But I have taken inspiration from that condense-it idea and created an approach to soup making that’s ideal if you want to stash the makings of a soup in the freezer — and be free to take it in one of many directions upon thawing.

For “Serve Yourself,” I wrote about making two soup bases — one from black beans and one from sweet potatoes (a beloved ingredient)— that are quite thick, too thick to eat as soup as is, but with plenty of flavor concentrated in them, too. Why take up space in your freezer with water, when you can instead freeze one-cup portions of one base or another (or both), and wait until you thaw to thin them out? Thanks, Campbell’s!

The one I’m writing about today is the Sweet Potato Soup Base, and I’m showing you how to turn a cup of it into a single-serving Sweet Potato and Orange Soup With Smoky Pecans. That’s the other benefit of this approach: If you’re cooking for one (or two), this is a simple way to get a head start on soup but not be locked into large quantities of the same recipe you get sick of eating by day 3. (The book also includes a recipe that can use another cup of the base to make a single serving of Sweet Potato Soup With Chorizo, Chickpeas, and Kale, but you’ll have to look that one up yourself if you’re interested! Or, if you ask really nicely…)

Season the base vibrantly but also fairly simply to start, so it remains flexible enough for a wide variety of treatments when you thin them out. I roast the sweet potatoes first (speeding them up by a quick initial hit in the microwave before roasting or air-frying), then cook them with a basic set of aromatics along with just a pinch of curry for depth. Then, when I thaw the base later, I just whisk in some orange juice and water while reheating, and in a little skillet I toast pecans with oil stained with smoked paprika. Drizzle the oil on the soup, garnish with the pecans, and dollop with a couple spoonfuls of coconut milk (or, of course, the creamy dollop of your choice).

I couldn’t even remember the last time I made this, but my sister Rebekah reminded me of it recently, and I was so glad she did. I made the soup for lunch, stealing one cup of the soup base before freezing the other three. The Husband was at the gym, the Teenager was asleep in front of the TV, downstairs, the pooch was running around in the backyard, so the house was quiet, with the only sounds coming from the fireplace in the living room. I had the house — and, more importantly, the soup — all to myself.

I break for animals:
Mango

Recipe: Sweet Potato and Orange Soup With Smoky Pecans

This elegant soup has a depth of flavor, brightened by orange and layered with smoked paprika, that would make it right at home as a dinner party starter. For yourself, pair it with a side salad and a big piece of crusty bread, and it’s dinner tonight, while you plan the party for another day.

1 serving (about 1 ½ cups) // Time: Weekday

Ingredients

• 1 cup Sweet Potato Soup Base (recipe below), defrosted if frozen

• ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

• ¼ cup water or vegetable stock, plus more as needed

• Kosher or sea salt

• 2 tablespoons pecan halves

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

• ½ teaspoon pimentón (smoked Spanish paprika) or ground chipotle chile

• 2 tablespoons coconut milk, whisked until smooth

• Finely grated zest of 1 orange

Directions

Pour the soup base into a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the orange juice and water, adding more water if you want a thinner consistency. Cook until the soup is bubbling hot, 3 to 4 minutes. Taste and add salt if needed. Decrease the heat to low, cover, and keep it hot.

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pecans and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are fragrant and start to darken, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the oil, stir in the pimentón, and cook for another 30 seconds to dissolve the spice. Use a heatproof spatula to scrape the spiced oil and pecans into a small bowl.

Pour the soup into a serving bowl, spoon the coconut milk in the middle, and top with the pecans and spiced oil. Sprinkle the orange zest on top, and eat.

Sweet Potato Soup Base

Makes about 4 cups // Time: Weekday // Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 6 months.

Ingredients

• 2 (10- to 12-ounce) sweet potatoes

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

• 1 celery stalk, thinly sliced

• 1 small leek, white and pale greens, thinly sliced

• 2 sprigs thyme

• Kosher or sea salt

• Pinch of curry powder

• 2 cups water or vegetable stock, warmed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Use a fork or sharp knife to prick the sweet potatoes in several places. Place on a piece of aluminum foil and bake until the sweet potatoes are tender and can be easily squeezed, 60 to 75 minutes. (Alternatively, to speed up the process, microwave the pricked sweet potatoes on high for 1 minute, then carefully transfer to the oven on a piece of foil. Bake until the potatoes are tender, 30 to 45 minutes.)

Pour the oil into a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. When it starts to shimmer, add the carrots, celery, leek, thyme, and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine, then decrease the heat to low, cover, and allow the vegetables to sweat in their juices until very soft, 10 to 15 minutes. (Take care not to allow the vegetables to burn.)

Scoop into the saucepan the soft flesh from the roasted sweet potatoes. Add the curry powder and mash the sweet potato flesh with the vegetables; the mixture will be chunky. Stir in the water or stock and combine well. Bring the mixture to a boil, then decrease the heat so the mixture gently simmers, and cook, covered but with the lid slightly ajar, for about 15 minutes to let the flavors meld. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then remove and discard the thyme.

Use a handheld immersion blender to puree the soup base, which will be very thick. (Alternatively, you can puree it in a blender or food processor; if using a blender, be sure to remove the center cap on the lid and cover with a dish towel to let steam escape, and work in small batches to avoid splattering the soup.) Taste and add salt if needed.

Let the soup base cool to room temperature. Divide it into 4 portions and use immediately, refrigerate, or freeze in small containers or heavy-duty freezer-safe resealable bags, pressing as much air out of the bag as possible before sealing.

Substitutions

• Sweet potatoes: Butternut or other winter squash.

• Pecans: Walnuts or pumpkin seeds.

• Smoked paprika: Ground chipotle, sweet paprika, cinnamon, cumin.

• Coconut milk: Unsweetened plain non-dairy yogurt.

• Leek: Yellow or white onion, shallots.

• Thyme: Rosemary.

More favorite sweet potato soup recipes

These are gift links to the recipes at the Post. Note that they require you to register but not subscribe. Gift links are free to access for 2 weeks, so if you want to come back to any of these recipes but don’t subscribe or want to subscribe, I suggest you find a way to save them!

Sweet Potato and Black-Eyed Pea Soup

Thai-Style Sweet Potato Soup

Sweet Potato, Collard and Black-Eyed Pea Soup