Mountain Soup, Steve's
Mountain Soup
Steve Lister ‘AskCy’
A variant of Portuguese Caldo Verdi soup, which I had in a restaurant up a mountain in the Algarve. On return to England I reproduced it and have had it many times since. Serves 8
Ingredients
2 medium, approximately 300 gm., onions, peeled and sliced/chopped
15-20 ml. olive oil
1-2 cloves or 1 tsp. garlic, chopped or pureed
100 gm. spicy, Spanish Chorizo sausages, chopped into small lumps. There are two qualities of Chorizo, the wide sliced type and the thinner sausage shape; you want the later if possible.
1/2 or 400gm. Spring cabbage, thinly sliced, like blades of grass.
3-4 large green cabbage leaves, cut into 1 inch squares
3 pints of good quality vegetable stock (cubes are ok)
2 large carrots, approximately 150 gm
2 medium potatoes, approximately 150 gm., peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
Salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions
Heat a large pan with a covering of olive oil across the bottom 1/4" deep give or take.
Gently cook onion, until soft, not brown.
Add garlic.
Add chorizo sausages to onions and stir in. You will see it take a red tint
Add thinly sliced cabbage, larger pieces of cabbage, chopped carrots, potatoes. Add stock to the pan, covering all the vegetables.
Keep the pan topped up with extra water to keep plenty of liquid in it.
Season with salt and pepper (remember stock cubes can be salty).
Simmer until all vegetables are cooked to soft (soft not mush). Potato should be breaking down a little.
The soup itself should remain quite thin, as it is a refreshing soup in the heat of summer.
Serve with warm crusty bread rolls.
Also see Soup Selection.
