Caldo Verde
Portuguese Potato and Greens Soup with Chouriço
Potato, olive oil and a tangle of cabbage cut so fine that it cooks in minutes. This is the soup of the Minho, in the green north-west, and the first thing on the table at lunches, weddings and street parties across the country. It is cheap, quick and hard to get wrong, with one exception: slice the greens as thinly as you possibly can. Thick ribbons give you stewed cabbage.
Caldo verde means green broth. It is eaten as a first course, as a late supper and at weddings, birthdays and summer street festivals, traditionally with broa, the dense maize and rye bread of the north. The greens are couve galega, a tall, dark, loose-leaved cabbage; in Portuguese markets it is sold ready shredded into hair-fine threads.
Its age is uncertain. You will read that it dates from the fifteenth century, but the soup as it is made now depends on the potato, which had not reached Europe then. Treat early dates with caution.
Ingredients
For the soup
- 800 g floury potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edward), peeled and cut into 3 cm chunks
- 1 large onion (about 200 g), roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 60 ml olive oil (4 tbsp), plus extra to serve
- 1.5 litres cold water
- 10 g fine sea salt (2 level tsp)
- 150 g chouriço, in one piece
- 250 g couve galega (see substitutes), stalks removed
To serve
- Broa (Portuguese maize bread) or another dense country loaf
Method
- Soften the onion Heat 45 ml (3 tbsp) of the oil in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and translucent. They should not colour.
- Cook the potatoes Add the potatoes, water, salt and the whole piece of chouriço. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 25 minutes. The potatoes are ready when a chunk collapses if you press it against the side of the pan.
- Cut the greens While the potatoes cook, stack the leaves a few at a time, roll them into a tight cigar and slice across into threads no wider than 2 mm. This is the one step that matters: thick ribbons turn the soup into stewed cabbage. Rinse and drain well.
- Blend Lift out the chouriço and set it aside. Blend the soup with a stick blender until completely smooth. It should be about as thick as single cream; loosen it with a splash of hot water if not. Taste for salt.
- Add the greens Bring the soup back to a brisk simmer. Stir in the greens and cook uncovered for 4 to 6 minutes, until they are tender but still bright green. Keeping the lid off preserves the colour. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of oil.
- Serve Cut the chouriço into rounds about 5 mm thick. Ladle the soup into bowls, add two or three slices to each and finish with a thread of olive oil. Serve at once with bread.
Cooking the sausage whole in the soup and slicing it afterwards flavours the broth without turning it orange and greasy.
The soup thickens as it stands. If you make it ahead, stop before adding the greens, then reheat, thin with a little water and add the greens just before serving.
Use a decent olive oil for finishing. With so few ingredients you will taste it.