Caldo Verde

[braided-rug]

Portuguese Green Soup
Fancy Version
(Caldo Verde)

1 onion, minced fine
1 garlic clove, minced
4 Tablespoons olive oil
6 potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
2 quarts cold water
6 oz. dry, garlicky sausage (linguica, chorizo, even pepperoni), sliced paper thin
2 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 lb. collards, kale, or turnip greens, washed, trimmed, rolled up and sliced into extra fine shreds (in a pinch, slightly defrost frozen kale and finely shred it with a sharp knife)
In a large saucepan, saute the onion and garlic in 3 Tablespoons of oil for about 3 minutes. Add the potatoes and saute, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes. Add water, cover, and boil gently over medium heat for 20 minutes, until the potatoes are mushy. Meanwhile, fry the sausage in a skillet over low heat for about 10 minutes, until most of the fat has drained out. Drain well and reserve.
When the potatoes are soft, remove from the heat and either mash them in the pan with a masher or puree them--then add the sausage, salt, and pepper. Return to medium heat, cover, and simmer for 5 more minutes.

When ready to serve, add the shreds of greens and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes--until they are tender and the color of jade. Mix in the last Tablespoon of oil, taste for seasoning, and ladle into large flat soup plates.

From: www.soupsong.com/rkale1.html

[braided-rug]

This is the recipe we made last night, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Caldo verde (Portuguese green soup)


Makes 1 large pot!


Preparation time less than 30 mins

Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour


Ingredients
2 nice fat onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
60ml/2¼fl oz olive oil
1 chorizo sausage
6 large potatoes
1.5 litres/2 pints 13fl oz good vegetable or chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 bay leaves
large bunch of greens or cabbage
smoked paprika and olive oil, for dressing



Method

Sweat the onions and garlic in the olive oil until translucent.

Chop the sausage into small chunks and add to the onion.

Sweat the onions and sausage for a few more minutes and then add the diced potatoes. They will absorb all the flavour from the sausage.

Transfer the mixture to a large pan, add the stock, seasoning and bay leaves, and cook until the potatoes are soft.

Meanwhile, very finely chop the cabbage (alternatively, buy a cabbage-shredding machine from the market as we did).

When the potatoes are ready, mash them into the broth to make a thick base. Blanch the greens in boiling water for one minute to take off any bitterness, drain, then add to the simmering broth.

Add as much cabbage as the broth will support - if you want heavy soup add loads of greens, if lighter, add less.

Simmer for a few minutes. The soup will go the colour of jade.

Mix the smoked paprika with some olive oil to make a dressing, and swirl this red magic into the vibrant green soup.

Serve with some heavy country bread, and wallow in praise!

From: www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/caldoverdeportuguese_73565.shtml

[cupcake]

I may give this a try when I go to the store next week. I need to pick up the cabbage. But for the greens, maybe I will be a bit wild and use stinging nettles. The soup sounds great, will post after I try how it turned out.