Sweet Potato & Crab Bisque

Ingredients

• 5 sweet potatoes (enough for 4 cups chopped)
• Olive oil, sea salt, and pepper, for seasoning potatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup leeks, chopped
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cup red pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 cup dry sherry
• 1/2 teaspoon sage, dried
• 1 teaspoon thyme, dried
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 cups vegetable stock, preferably homemade
• 1 cup lump crab meat, packed (8 ounces), picked over for shells
• 2/3-1 cup cream (how creamy do you like it?)
• 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, fresh
• 1/2 cup dry sherry, to taste (optional)
• 1 tablespoon sage, minced, fresh (optional)
• 1 tablespoon honey (optional)
• Sea salt and white pepper, to reseason

Instructions

1. Roast sweet potatoes, as described here. (I recommend white pepper to season the potatoes for this recipe rather than black pepper, but it’s not all that important.)

3. Pour in 7 cups of vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Add additional white pepper and salt, stir, then turn down heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Give the soup a taste. You could stop right here and you’ll have a wonderfully tasty sweet potato soup all on its own.

4. Use a hand blender to purée the soup into a thick mixture, adding the additional cup of stock to thin if desired. (This version is also delightful. Try it!)

5. Stir in crab, cream, and sherry and simmer an additional 10 minutes, until the alcohol mellows. Mix in fresh thyme and sage and simmer an additional 5 minutes. Reseason with salt and white pepper to suit your palate, adding honey if needed to balance the flavors.

 Makes about 12 cups of soup.