Courtesy of Chef Oonagh Williams of Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh
This is my go to soup during cold weather so I normally have all the ingredients and it cooks in about half an hour. It’s only mildly spicy from the chorizo sausage as my husband doesn’t like a lot of heat. This is a tasty sausage, I think far too many “hot” sausages have no flavor only mouth burning, lip tingling heat. I have made this with fresh butternut squash, carrots, and parsnips but prefer it with sweet potatoes, which are the cheapest vegetable in my grocery store. The sweet potatoes break down to a creamy base with texture from the sausage and chickpeas. There’s a slight sweetness from the sweet potato and sausage. I add quinoa to lots of soups for better nutrition, and without the sausage this is a vegetarian meal with protein from the quinoa and chickpeas. This is hearty enough for dinner with salad or bread.
Makes 8 one cup portions
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs. (1 kg) of sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-1 inch cubes (I found that I really noticed less flavor when I used less quantity of sweet potatoes)
- 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
- Olive oil
- 2 Al Fresco (half of a 4 sausage pack) chipotle chorizo fully cooked, gluten-free, chicken sausage, peeled, quartered lengthwise and cut into small pieces. (This just gives a mild burst of heat with flavor. Use a spicier sausage if you want more of the chipotle sausage. Note the Al Fresco sausage skins are made from pork.)
- 8 cups (2 ltr, 64 fl. oz.) gluten-free chicken stock
- 1 x 14, 15 or 16 oz. (500g) can of chickpeas or other beans you like, drained, rinsed and drained again
- ¼ cup (60 ml) raw quinoa added at beginning of cooking or 1/2 cup cooked and added at end. This is optional and makes a thicker soup.
- 1 cup (8 fl oz, 250ml) Asian-style coconut milk – optional or regular milk
- 4 tsp. (20 ml) cornstarch mixed with milk to thicken.
- Finish with chopped fresh parsley, cilantro, green of green onion or chive
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Cook onion in olive oil in large pan until tender and starting to brown.
- Add sweet potato cubes and sausage pieces. Fry for about 3 minutes.
- Add stock, raw quinoa and chickpeas. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, cover and cook for about half an hour until sweet potatoes and quinoa are cooked. Add cooked quinoa before adding milk.
- If the soup seems too thick, I add the coconut milk or add it anyway if I feel like it. I still thicken soup slightly as my husband prefers thick soup.
- Taste and adjust seasonings, serve with fresh herbs for a burst of flavor, sprinkling of cheese.
