Green herb soup with sorrel and lovage
Lovage grows wild in the south of France and Greece and was planted in my backyard a couple of years ago. Not knowing what to do with it, I was given a soup recipe from Deborah Madison.
The hardest part about this recipe is collecting the ingredients. But it gives you a chance to use those bunches of chard that are exciting to buy then occasionally languish in the refrigerator.
The original recipe uses butter and crème fraîche. This is a lower fat version.
While the color of the soup turns out to be sort of dull green, the flavors are incredibly lively and bright. Cilantro is listed as a substitute for lovage.
This is one of the best soups I have had.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 small potatoes, thinly sliced
- 3 small carrots, thinly sliced
- 3 to 4 cups of sorrel, destemmed
- 4 cups chard leaves
- 1 cup lovage leaves or cilantro, finely chopped
- 5 to 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 to 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar or lemon juice
- 1/3 cup non-fat sour cream
- Cooked rice or orzo
Directions
- Heat olive oil in a soup pot. Wash the greens but don't dry them.
- Add red onion, potatoes, carrots, sorrel, chard, 2/3 cup of lovage (cilantro), and salt.
- Cook covered until the leaves of the chard and sorrel collapse, about 15 minutes.
- Add stock, bring to a boil, and simmer partially covered about 15 minutes more.
- Purée some or all of the soup with an immersion blender or your food processor. Season in increments to taste with vinegar or lemon juice and black pepper.
- Stir in sour cream and remaining lovage.
- Serve with about 3 tablespoons of cooked rice or orzo in each bowl.