Minho · 45 min · Meat · Soup · For beginners
Caldo verde
In German: Grünkohlsuppe mit Chouriço · In English: Kale soup with chouriço
For 4 servings · US units
Velvety potato soup with finely shredded kale and smoky chouriço
Caldo verde means something like "green broth", and that's exactly what lands in your bowl: a velvety potato soup threaded with whisper-thin ribbons of kale and slices of smoky chouriço. This Portuguese soup comes from the green Minho in the north of the country, and it's just the thing for cool autumn and winter evenings when you want something warming to wrap your hands around.
Ingredients
- 15¾ ozpotatoesfloury, peeled and diced; thickens the soup
- 7 ozkalePortuguese cabbage (couve galega) or turnip greens; leaves cut into very fine strips
- 5¼ ozPortuguese or other smoked paprika sausage, slicedSpanish or Portuguese pork sausage, heavily seasoned with paprika and garlic, which releases red fat as it cooks.Substitute: Cured chorizo cut into chunks works at a pinch, though it turns chewier and renders less fat; Mexican chorizo is a different product, loose, seasoned with vinegar and chilli, and changes the dish noticeably.Read more
- 1onionfinely diced
- 2 clovesgarlicfinely chopped
- 2 tbspolive oilfor sweating the aromatics
- 4¼ cupswatercan be replaced fully or partly by meat or chicken stock
- saltto taste
- black pepperto taste
Method
- Shred the kale finelyWash the kale, strip away the outer leaves and cut the rest into very fine strips. The finer you go, the more tender they'll be in the soup.
- Prep the sausage and vegetablesCut the chouriço into slices or small pieces. Finely chop the onion and garlic, then peel and dice the potatoes.
- Sweat onion and garlicHeat the olive oil in a large pot and sweat the onion over medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and let it soften briefly without taking on any colour.
- Simmer the potatoes softAdd the potatoes and the water or stock, bring everything to the boil and simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes are completely soft.
- Blend the soup smoothBlend the soup until smooth with a stick blender; the floury potatoes are what give it its creamy body.
- Add chouriço and kaleBring the soup back to the boil, then add the chouriço and the kale strips and let them cook for about 5 minutes, until the kale has wilted but is still a lovely bright green.
- Season and serveSeason with salt and pepper and serve the soup hot.
Tips and variations
If you like, swap some or all of the water for meat or chicken stock for a deeper flavour. Grelos (turnip greens) work nicely instead of kale. There's also an unblended version made with sweet potatoes, frozen leaf spinach in place of the kale, chouriço browned beforehand and a pinch of sweet paprika. And if you have a food processor with a cooking function, you can put all the ingredients in raw with the water and let it cook and chop everything for you. Bring the soup to the table steaming hot in deep bowls, so the kale and the chouriço can really show.
Allergens
Not every ingredient in this recipe has been checked, so nothing is promised as free from.
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
