Silky Smooth Vegetable Soup With Asparagus Pistou

• Silky Smooth Vegetable Soup
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• Pinch of salt
• few good grinds of pepper
• 1 sweet potato/yam, chopped (mine was a little less than a pound)
• 1 red/yellow/orange bell pepper (just not green)
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 4 cups low sodium vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste if needed
• Asparagus Pistou (a vegetable infused riff of the classic)
• 1 packet fresh basil (I don't measure it but it's probably about 2-3 cups)
• 1 pound bunch of asparagus, blanched
• 3-5 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon harissa (Moroccan red pepper paste/sauce) or red pepper flakes, optional
• squeeze of lemon juice
• few glugs of olive oil
• salt to taste

1. In a large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, sweet potato, carrots, and bell pepper and toss to coat. Add a pinch of salt and a few grinding of pepper and saute over medium heat (my stove gets really hot so adjust yours to suit) for a few minutes. Put cover on and sweat vegetables for about 5-8 minutes. Uncover and add tomato paste, bay leaf, and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low and simmer for about a half hour, until carrots and sweet potato are soft. Remove bay leaf. Puree soup in a blender (you may need to do it in two batches), use an immersion blender in stock pot or your food processor and process till silky smooth. Return soup to pot and get ready to serve it after you make the pistou.
2. Blitz all ingredients until roughly of pesto consistency (they are of similar origins) and dollop on hot soup. Eat soup from the center out taking little bits of pistou with each bite of soup.

silky smooth, olive oil, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, yam, orange bell pepper, carrots, tomato paste, vegetable stock, bay leaf, salt, pistou, basil, garlic, red pepper, lemon juice, glugs of olive oil, salt

Taken from food52.com/recipes/4606-silky-smooth-vegetable-soup-with-asparagus-pistou (may not work)