Curried Sweet Potato Apple Soup

Here's my take on Curried Sweet Potato Apple Soup - I decided to combine chunky and smooth textures with both sweet potato puree and chunks of fresh sweet potato, as well as both applesauce and diced apple for the extra layers; the juxtaposition of spicy savory curry and sweet apple works surprisingly well.

Ingredients

1 medium sweet potato

1 can sweet potato puree

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced (my personal touch for a more chunky soup)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, plus more for garnish

 Madras curry powder to taste (original recipe calls for 1 1/2 teaspoons but I used closer to 1/4 cup)

Pinch smoked paprika

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 can low-sodium chicken broth

1 1/4 cups chunky applesauce

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Chopped fresh parsley garnish

Directions

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ginger, nutmeg, a few teaspoons curry powder, and salt and pepper to taste and cook until toasted, 1 more minute. Microwave sweet potato and scoop out flesh with a spoon. Peel and dice green apple and add to pot.

Add the  sweet potato pieces and puree, chicken broth and 2 cups water to the pot, cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and stir in the applesauce. Simmer, covered, until the sweet potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, stirring to soften potato chunks and adjust spices to taste. *I added a pinch of Hungarian smoked paprika for extra zing and more curry powder as the soup cooked. I finished it with a baby pinch of brown sugar - so good with the spicy and sweet in this soup - and served the soup in a hollowed out loaf of Tuscan bread, homemade bread bowl with bread pieces tossed in to sop up the succulent soup, and garnished with fresh parsley, toasted pumpkin seeds, nutmeg and freshly ground pepper on top.  It was literally finger-licking good!