Questions? Comments? Concerns? Email me at goodhappyfit@gmail.com!
Remember that time when I love to pretend I’m Portuguese (and a good cook) and make this delicious Portuguese Caldo Verde soup all the time?
Well, it just happened again. I’m re-posting this recipe (my own version of it this time) simply because I just love it that much. Now that I’ve had some practice, I think I’ve mastered it on my own (sorta).
Ingredients:
- olive oil
- 1 large sausage link
- 10 russet potatoes
- 2 large (or 4 small) yellow onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt
- pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 4(ish) cups water
- 4(ish) cups of vegetable or chicken stock (or broth, but you may need to adjust according to how it tastes. I tend to stick with the vegetable stock)
- 1 bunch (or about 6 cups) of collard greens
Other items:
- Large soup or stock pot
- Handheld (immersion) blender (note: GET ONE OF THESE NOW! so so so handy)
What to do:
- Place your pot on the burner over medium-low heat. Coat with a bit of olive oil.
- Cut your sausage into large pieces and place in the pot (I like to use smoked turkey sausage. You’re supposed to use a Portuguese pork sausage called Chourico). Let them brown while you prepare the potatoes.
- Peel your potatoes and set aside. Peel and roughly chop your onions.
- Place onions into pot, slice potatoes into one-inch slices, and add to pot.
- Stir the potato and onion mixture and remove the sausages.
- Add garlic cloves (roughly chopped), a pinch of salt and pepper, the bay leaf, water, and stock or broth. Add about 1/4 cup olive oil. Stir.
- Turn to high heat and let boil for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
- Meanwhile, wash your collard greens (you can also use kale, but collard greens work better, taste better in this soup, and I think they’re cheaper, too) and slice into very thin slices (this will take some TLC, especially if you’re using kale).
- Remove pot from heat, remove bay leaf, and (VERY CAREFULLY) puree with your immersion blender. Return to heat.
- Place the sausage back in the pot, along with the sliced greens. Cook for a few minutes, until the greens are nice and soft.
- Remove the sausage and slice into very thin slices. Set aside.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with 3-4 slices of sausage.
Notes: I didn’t use any salt until the very end, and no pepper at all. You’ll just have to adjust according to your tastes. If the soup tastes bland, add salt and pepper, or a bit of extra olive oil.
This makes a giant pot of soup, which is perfect for lunch and with dinner throughout the week, but if you want less, cut all measurements in half. It reheats well in the microwave or over medium heat on the stove. Store the sausage separate from the soup so it doesn’t get soggy in the fridge.
I love this soup! Especially on chilly fall days like today. It’s warm, thick, and soothing*, but not too hardy or filling. I highly suggest trying it out!
*I will not make dirty jokes, I will not make dirty jokes, I will not make dirty jokes
When I’m not working, I have a lot of time on my hands to practice my housewife skills. I like to come stay at my boyfriend’s for weeks at a time and use his electricity while he’s at work (and use the oven to heat his studio apartment… He still refuses to turn the heat on. It is currently 39 degrees here in West Michigan… But that’s another story for another time).
Yesterday, I got a little crazy. He’s Portuguese (and so is my other boyfriend, Cristiano Ronaldo), and so I decided to (try to) make his favorite Portuguese caldo verde, or collard greens, soup. I knew I had some big shoes to fill because, come on, you can’t compete with Mom’s cooking. You just can’t. And especially since I’ve only had this soup once, didn’t really remember exactly how it tasted, and didn’t have him here to taste test it and give his input, I was going out on a real limb.
I followed this basic recipe, adding my own spices and seasoning toward the end, and omitting the sausage, since I couldn’t find it anywhere (I added a little butter and more olive oil for fat instead). Oh, and I didn’t make the double batch she used in the recipe because I don’t have a big enough pot, or fridge, here.
Turns out, it was pretty good! I made it during the day and had a bit for lunch, and I thought it was delicious. Come dinner time, though, I think it needed some extra TLC as I reheated it, which I didn’t give it because I was too occupied with trying to prepare the rest of the meal. But I still got the thumbs up from him, so I was happy.
Meanwhile, as I ate the yummy soup for lunch, I was inspired to stay out on this Portuguese limb and found this recipe for the pork chops I had in the fridge. I served it over brown rice and used half and half instead of heavy cream. It was good, but the wine I used was cheap (yeah yeah) and added a sour flavor to it, which I remedied, for the most part, with some added half and half and spices. And I let it cook down for quite a while.
Finally, dessert. During the day I threw together a delicious butternut squash pie. Yes, I have a weird obsession with butternut squash, I can’t help it! I used my grandma’s pumpkin pie recipe, just using squash instead of pumpkin, and pretty much canceling out the crust, because without the proper baking/measuring utensils it was an epic failure. But the pie itself was delicious! I’ll post the recipe in the near future!
All in all, it wasn’t the best dinner I’ve made. There were a few bumps in the road, but everything was at least edible. And by edible I mean, it was good. Not great, just good (which isn’t good enough for me, because I LOVE food). But I think it’s the thought that counts here. I tried, and for the most part, I succeeded! Housewife points for me!
Portuguese Caldo Verde Soup
