Sweet Potato Soup

Leave it to my better half to "taste out" a recipe from a local restaurant and just in time for Thanksgiving! This hearty soup is a meal in itself - thick, creamy and slightly rustic. Serve as a starter for your Thanksgiving feast or as tonight's dinner.

5-6 medium sweet potatoes
8 slices bacon, cooked crisp
2 onions, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 bay leaves
6 C chicken broth
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Salt & pepper, to taste
1/4 C sour cream
Dash hot sauce

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise, rub with olive oil and bake, cut side down for 1 hour, until tender. Allow to cool, then scoop the flesh out of the skins and discard the skins.
2. Fry bacon in a non-stick frying pan until crisp. Remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain (reserving the bacon fat in the pan), then crumble into small pieces. Cook the onions in the bacon fat or in 1 tbs olive oil over a moderate heat for 5 minutes until they start to soften.
3. Add the sweet potato flesh, bay leaves, chicken stock, nutmeg, salt and pepper and bring to the boil, stirring. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If it’s too lumpy for your taste, removed the bay leaves and blend the soup with a hand blender. Mix in sour cream until blended. Add a few drops of hot sauce to taste. 
4. Serve in warmed soup bowls, topped with crumbled crisp bacon.