Sweet Potato Butternut Soup With Berberé

Sweet Potato Butternut Soup With Berberé

This sweet, earthy, spicy soup is a perfect way to showcase the flavors of Ethiopian berberé. Roasted sweet potatoes and butternut squash are cooked down with onion, garlic, and white wine and are pureed into a belly-warming dish that heartily welcomes fall.

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Sweet Potato Butternut Soup With Berberé


Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Cook Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes
  • 2 medium butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more to drizzle
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 cups stock of choice
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup tomato juice
  • Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)

For the berberé:

  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ¼ teaspoon fenugreek
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
  • Dash ground cloves
  • Dash ground cinnamon
  • Dash ground allspice
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon New Mexican chile powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup paprika

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 F, and line a baking sheet or jellyroll pan with foil.
  2. Prick sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Drizzle butternut halves with olive oil, and rub with your fingers to coat well. Arrange vegetables on baking sheet, and roast until fork tender, about 1 hour.
  3. Meanwhile, prepare the berberé. Combine all spices in a bowl, and stir to integrate. Set aside.
  4. Once vegetables have cooled enough to handle, scoop flesh into a bowl, and discard skins (it may be easier to peel sweet potato skin away than to scoop out flesh.)
  5. Heat olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic until translucent, about 7 minutes. Add sweet potato and butternut, tossing to coat. Allow to cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Pour in stock, wine, and tomato juice, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and stir in berberé spice mix. Allow soup to simmer 20 minutes, then remove from heat.
  6. Once cooled slightly, transfer soup to a blender, and puree in batches (I find it easiest to pour puree back into the soup pot and to use a slotted spoon to make sure I get all the chunks.) Once all soup is pureed, stir in lemon juice.
  7. Serve with crackers or a crusty piece of toasted bread.