Sweet Potato Soup with Crispy Prosciutto
It’s such a gray, rainy, chilly day today so it seemed like the perfect time to write out this warming sweet potato soup. If you’re like me, you could eat soup every night during these winter months! They’re so warming and comforting and I feel like they’re always the perfect meal when it’s not nice outside. I love almost any soup you put in front of me, but I’ve never really played around with sweet potatoes in soup.
I normally wouldn’t think to make a sweet potato soup, but I was in the kitchen one day and really didn’t have much food around. I was so hungry and didn’t feel like venturing out to the supermarket. I had a sweet potato, onions, garlic, a few other things and some bone broth that was going to go bad if I didn’t use it ASAP. So I decided to play around and make soup. The first round was really good, but it needed more. There were no crunchy, salty, garlicky, homemade croutons or perfectly crisped prosciutto. And let me tell you, they totally make the soup. I decided the following week to make it again with a few additions. I added more spices and herbs and of course the toppings. This soup came out creamy, spicy, and perfect for a winter night!
Ingredients:
1 yellow onion, chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp grass fed butter
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus more for croutons)
2 small sweet potatoes, chopped
8 sage leaves, chopped small
Salt & pepper to taste
Pinch of cayenne (or more)
1/2 tbsp paprika
4 cups chicken bone broth
1 cup full fat coconut milk
3 slices of sourdough bread, cut into small squares
1/2 tsp garlic powder
6 slices of prosciutto, cut into small bite size pieces
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange prosciutto in a single layer on the baking sheet.
In a large dutch oven, heat oil and butter over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add in garlic, cooking until fragrant, 1 minute. Next add in the sweet potatoes, cooking for another 5 minutes, stirring continuously.
Add sage, cayenne, paprika, salt, and pepper. Add a splash of your bone broth to help get all of the brown bits off of the bottoms of the pot and then add in the rest of the broth. Bring soup to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce to low, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are soft.
While soup is simmering, make the croutons and prosciutto crisps. For the prosciutto, place the baking sheet in the oven, letting bake for 10-13 minutes or until wrinkly and almost crisp. They will continue cooking when you take them out of the oven. For the croutons, place the cut up bread on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 1-2 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle sea salt and garlic powder on top. Place in the oven for about 5 minutes or until crisp. It’s important to keep an eye on these because they can crisp up more quickly!
Transfer the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Bring the mixture back into the pot and add in the coconut milk. Let simmer until warmed through, about 5 minutes.
Divide among soup bowls and top with crispy prosciutto, croutons, and and extra swirl of coconut milk!