sweet potato soup with pancetta

i have made this kind of thing before but this was really quite nice and i felt i wanted to post about it again. it's just a sweet potato soup but it ends up being a half-decent lunch once you've added a few bits. also, i liked the picture and that's a good enough reason for me.

SWEET POTATO SOUP

1 onion, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

1 stick celery, chopped

1 large sweet potato, chopped into chunks

1 stalk lemon grass, bruised with the back of a knife

1/2 tsp or to taste of chilli flakes

a large bunch of coriander, chopped finely, stalks and all

1 bag of coconut cream (or some coconut milk)

600ml good chicken stock

to garnish:

1 slice of pancetta

1tbs creme fraiche

toasted pumpkin seeds

heat some oil in a pan and fry the onion, the celery and the carrots for about 10 minutes or until soft. add the lemon grass, the chilli and half of the coriander. cook for another couple of minutes, then add the sweet potato and the stock.

cook until the sweet potato is almost soft, then add the coconut cream and let it simmer for another minute or two until the cream has dissolved and the potato is cooked.

in the meantime, grill the pancetta and drain on some kitchen paper. dry fry the pumpkin seeds.

discard the lemon grass, then puree the soup in a blender in batches (be careful not to overfill). stir in the creme fraiche, sprinkle with the crumbled pancetta, remaining coriander and the seeds and serve.