southern sweet potato soup

How To Make southern sweet potato soup

• 
  Step 1
  Peel and cut sweet potatoes into ½” chunks; set aside.
• 
  Step 2
  In large, heavy bottomed soup kettle, heat butter or oil over medium heat. Cook onion, celery and carrots until onion softens, about 4 minutes. Add bell pepper and garlic; stir and cook another 2-3 minutes until fragrant.
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  Step 3
  Add 6 cups of the chicken broth, reserving ½ cup. Add molasses, potatoes, salt, cinnamon, and turmeric. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes or until sweet potatoes are soft. Stir occasionally.
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  Step 4
  Stir cornstarch into reserved ½ cup chicken broth, then stir this into the soup. Simmer another 10 minutes.
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  Step 5
  If desired, puree the soup with a hand blender or in a food processor. Return soup to pot and stir in the half & half. Heat to serving temperature but do not boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
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  Step 6
  Quicker version using canned sweet potatoes: Use two 15-ounce cans sweet potatoes. Drain and reserve the liquid, and cut potatoes into ½” chunks. Add chicken broth to the reserved liquid to make the 6 ½ cups. Use 2 cups frozen Mirapoix mix to replace the onion, celery and carrots in step 2. Omit molasses and ½ tsp of the salt. You may only need to simmer 15 minutes instead of 30 in step 3. Proceed as above.
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