RECIPE: CALDO VERDE

Life-Giving Green Soup

I present to you the most perfect autumn/winter comfort and cure-all; caldo verde. A simple and humble Portuguese soup that has provided warmth, nourishment, and comfort for thousands of years. It’s known as a life-giving soup, what’s better than that? Sad day, sick day, your answer is caldo verde.

Caldo Verde

Yield: 6-8 servings

1.5 pounds yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced into 1” pieces

1 yellow onion, diced into 1” pieces

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt, to taste

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 bunch collard greens, destemmed and shredded

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (optional)

1 pound linguica or chorizo

• Heat olive oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Add onion and 1 tsp salt and cook, stirring regularly, until onions begin to brown. Add potatoes and cook until they begin to brown, then add garlic and white pepper.

• Add stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to medium and continue to cook until potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork.

• While the soup cooks, prepare the collard greens. Remove the think center stems, then stack several leaves and roll into a tight cylinder. Cut the roll crosswise into very thin slices.

• Once potatoes are cooked, puree the soup with an immersion blender or in a food processor. Bring soup back to a simmer and add the collard greens. Cook for about 5 minutes to soften.

• Cook the sausage in a saute pan over medium heat. Remove from pan, slice into ¼” rounds, and return to the pan to crisp.

• To serve, stir vinegar into the soup and add salt if desired. Ladle soup into bowls and place several slices of chorizo and a drizzle of chorizo oil to each bowl.