So, I bought the world’s BIGGEST sweet potato…

… I didn’t even want to buy sweet potatoes this shopping trip, but how could I resist?!

But what to do with it? Wedges? Chips? Mash? Maybe, but surely such a giant spud is worthy of better things?

Like an edible soup bowl! Filled with a lovely spicy orange soup, made with butternut squash, carrots, orange peppers and of course sweet potato flesh. And some black beans and pearl barley to give the soup some bite.

The trickiest part of this recipe was hollowing out the potato. It reminded me of pumpkin carving at Halloween. In fact, this recipe would probably make quite a festive spooky dish since its orange.

If you don’t like spicy food, hold back the chilli. I thought it had a kick that hit the spot but the hubby struggled to eat his!

Recipe (easily serves two):

• 1 x giant sweet potato*
• 1 x cup finely chopped carrots
• 3 x spring onions (sliced)
• 1 x tsp dried thyme leaves
• ¼ x tsp chopped fresh chilli
• ¾ x tsp white pepper
• 1 x tsp ground cumin
• 1 x tsp paprika
• 1 x tsp smoked paprika
• 1 x tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 x medium onion (cut into quarters)
• 2 x cups coarsely chopped squash
• 1 x orange pepper x medium onion
• ¼ x cup pearl barley1
• ¾ x cup dried black beans (soaked overnight)
• 1 x veggie stock cube
• 1.5 L x  water Veggie oil

* (or a couple of mini pumpkins would work as well)

Method:

1. Put the squash, pepper and onion pieces onto a lightly greased baking tray and roast at 180^oC for 20 minutes or until soft but golden round the edges.
2. In a pan, boil the black beans and pearl barley until tender.
3. In a large pan, sauté the carrots, spring onions, thyme and sweet potato in a pan and cook on a medium heat until everything begins to turn brown.
4. Add the water, stock cube and spices and stir before bringing to the boil.
5. Drop to a simmer and cook until all the veg is soft.
6. Add the roast veg and simmer for 5 minutes longer.
7. Take off the heat and using a hand blender, whiz until smooth.
8. Add the cooked beans and pearly barley. Set to one side and re-heat when ready to serve.
9. Slice the sweet potato in half and scoop out the middles to create a bowl shape. This requires a bit of muscle!
10. The potato will take around 45 minutes to cook at 180^oC depending on size. For the first 25 mins I left a scrunched up piece of foil in the centres to make sure the middle stayed soft. (If you’re feeling confident you could make the soup whilst the bowls cook).
11. Serve by ladling soup into each sweet potato bowl and garnish with soya cream and rocket if you want to be fancy.

Flash-Gordonette…x