Kale & Chorizo
It’s almost the end of March and we’re still waiting for
Spring, the last few days have been so cold and now we have snow. I think the
whole country is ready for some warmer weather but it looks like we are set to
stay icy until Easter. So we remain tucked away, socks and jumpers layered on,
craving comfort food and carbohydrates. Luckily, there are many traditional
recipes for such weather that cost little, are easy to cook and warm the soul
when served in steaming bowls in front of the fire. One of these is Caldo
verde, a Portuguese soup based on onions, potatoes and kale, perfect for this
time of year. The recent Cook supplement from the Guardian featured a recipe for
Caldo verde from The Kitchen Revolution, which sounded lovely and reduced the
carb content a little by using squash as well as potatoes. I’ve pimped the
recipe slightly, adding some sherry and frying some chorizo slices as a crispy
garnish, see my version below.
Butternut squash, potato and kale soup with chorizo
Serves 2 greedy people
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil (plus a little extra)
3 large potatoes (floury variety such as King Edwards)
1⁄2 butternut squash
150ml dry sherry
500ml chicken or vegetable stock (or water is fine too)
250g kale (or any type of cabbage), shredded very fine
8 slices of chorizo (finely sliced type used for sandwiches)
1 tsp of Spanish smoked paprika (the hot one)
salt and pepper
Sweat the onion and garlic in the olive oil on a low to medium heat for about 5 minutes or until soft and translucent but not brown. Peel the potato and squash and chop into similar sized largish chunks and add to the onion and garlic, stirring to coat in the oil and sweat for a few minutes. Turn the heat up a little and add the sherry, allowing the vegetables to soak up the liquid before adding the stock (or water). Feel free to add a little more if needed, it will need to cover the vegetables. Simmer gently for 20-30 minutes or until everything is soft, adding seasoning to taste. While the soup is cooking roll up the kale or cabbage leaves tightly (removing any large stems) and shred very finely. Using a potato masher or large wooden spoon crush the squash and potato so that you have a thick soup but leave some chunks whole for texture and add the finely shredded kale for the last few minutes to wilt in the hot liquid. Just before serving, heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan on a high heat with the paprika and fry the chorizo slices until crispy. Placed the sliced chorizo on top of each bowl of soup, drizzling the red paprika oil from the pan over the top.
Sweat the onion and garlic in the olive oil on a low to medium heat for about 5 minutes or until soft and translucent but not brown. Peel the potato and squash and chop into similar sized largish chunks and add to the onion and garlic, stirring to coat in the oil and sweat for a few minutes. Turn the heat up a little and add the sherry, allowing the vegetables to soak up the liquid before adding the stock (or water). Feel free to add a little more if needed, it will need to cover the vegetables. Simmer gently for 20-30 minutes or until everything is soft, adding seasoning to taste. While the soup is cooking roll up the kale or cabbage leaves tightly (removing any large stems) and shred very finely. Using a potato masher or large wooden spoon crush the squash and potato so that you have a thick soup but leave some chunks whole for texture and add the finely shredded kale for the last few minutes to wilt in the hot liquid. Just before serving, heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan on a high heat with the paprika and fry the chorizo slices until crispy. Placed the sliced chorizo on top of each bowl of soup, drizzling the red paprika oil from the pan over the top.
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