This soup doesn’t involve a lot of prep. The main flavour comes from roasting the peppers and sweet potato. When you roast red peppers it brings out their natural sweetness and makes it easier to remove the skin. You will notice the difference in the soup if you peel the pepper skin as it can be bitter and doesn’t break down once cooked. To keep this soup smooth I also peel the sweet potato skin, if you prefer you can leave the skin on but it will dull the colour of the soup. If you like a more smokey flavour you can cook the peppers over a flame or on a BBQ, don’t worry if the skins go completely black, this will add to the flavour.

Peeled roasted red pepper and sweet potato

You can roast the vegetables in advance and keep in the fridge for 5 days until you need them.

Method for roasted red pepper and sweet potato soup:

1. Preheat oven to 200C (180C Fan). Place the sweet potatoes on a tray whole with their skins on and bake for 30-40 mins or until soft inside.
2. Chop peppers in half and remove stalk and seeds. Place skin side up on tray and bake for 15-20 mins, until the pepper is soft and the skin starts to wrinkle. (Alternatively you can char peppers on a naked flame on the hob, on the BBQ or under the grill).
3. Once the peppers and sweet potatoes are cooked leave to cool before removing the skins and roughly chop.
4. Whilst the veg is roasting finely chop the leak and mince garlic.
5. Heat the oil in a saucepan and sweat the leeks on a low to medium heat for 10-15 mins. (You don’t want the leeks to brown).
6. Add garlic and cook for a couple minutes.
7. Add the roasted vegetables, paprika and chilli flakes and cook for 5 mins.
8. Add veg stock and turn heat down to low, simmer for 10 mins.
9. Blend the soup using a stick blender or Vitamix, for a thinner soup add more water (up to 500ml).
10. Season with a good amount of salt and pepper and adjust chilli and paprika to your taste.

On retreat we like to serve this soup in a mug alongside our egg mayo ‘sandwich’ in a lettuce leaf. To make this a complete evening meal you will need to add some protein, this can be as easy and a tin of cannelloni beans or chickpeas. This soup can also be used as a sauce base for other recipes so if you make a batch you can freeze portions.