Cream of Sweet Potato Soup

I can't get over how busy the holiday's always seem to get. We just got back in town yesterday from Corpus visiting my family and had enough time to sneak in a nap before heading out to see the Nutcracker Ballet. I recently won 4 tickets from the radio so my hubby and I got to have some friends join us on our night out on the town. The show was wonderful and I can't believe I haven't seen it before. It makes you want to go home and dress up then leap around the house like I used to do as a little girl. Well, maybe not the same reaction from my hubby, but he enjoyed the performance as well.

Since the weather has stayed cooler I decided to make a couple soups and one that I tried was a Sweet Potato soup. This recipe comes from that Top Secret Recipes site and claims to be one of the Soup Nazi's recipes. While we've been to New York a couple of times we haven't gotten to eaten at the famous restaurant. My hubby is a huge Seinfeld fan so one of these trips we'll have to make it there to see if it taste the same as this. What they don't tell you is you need to blend the soup once it's cooked. Trust me I looked in the pot and was like "this can't be right, it's just mashed sweet potatoes and liquid", it's like magic and turns into a smooth velvet soup. Delicious!!

Soup Nazi's Cream of Sweet Potato Soup

(Adapted from http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/)

4 sweet potatoes (about one pound each)

8 cups water

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup tomato sauce

2 tablespoons half and half

2 teaspoons salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

dash thyme

1 cup cashews (split in half)

sugar to taste if the sweet potatoes aren't as sweet

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the sweet potatoes for 45 minutes or until they are soft. Cool the potatoes until they can be handled.

Peel away the skin, then put the potatoes into a large bowl. Mash the potatoes for 15-20 seconds, but don't need to mash them until they are entirely smooth.

Spoon the mashed sweet potato into a large saucepan over medium/high heat, add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

When the soup begins to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 50-60 minutes. Cashews should be soft. Serve hot with an attitude.

This is where I then blended it in small batches.

I garnished it with a sprinkle of thyme.