Caldo Verde Recipes

CALDO VERDE (PORTUGUESE GREEN SOUP)

Steps:

• In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook onion and garlic in 3 tablespoons olive oil for 3 minutes. Stir in potatoes and cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes more. Pour in water, bring to a boil, and let boil gently for 20 minutes, until potatoes are mushy.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-low heat, cook sausage until it has released most of its fat, 10 minutes. Drain.
• Mash potatoes or puree the potato mixture with a blender or food processor. Stir the sausage, salt and pepper into the soup and return to medium heat. Cover and simmer 5 minutes.
• Just before serving, stir kale into soup and simmer, 5 minutes, until kale is tender and jade green. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and serve at once.

CALDO VERDE (PORTUGUESE SAUSAGE KALE SOUP)

Steps:

• Slice sausage into 1/4-inch rounds. Heat oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage and saute until sausage begins to turn brown and renders some fat, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a dish. Reduce heat to medium-low; add onions and pinch of salt salt. Stir and cook until softened, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Transfer potatoes to pot. Sprinkle in 2 teaspoons salt. Pour in chicken broth. Increase heat to high and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until potatoes are tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
• When potatoes are tender, carefully mash them in the broth with a potato masher until broken up or completely mashed. Add kale, a handful at a time. Transfer browned sausage to soup. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until greens are tender, about 45 minutes.

CALDO VERDE

Steps:

• Take whatever greens you are using and stack several leaves on top of each other. Starting at the wide side, roll the stack up into a tight cylinder. Slice across the cylinder with a very sharp knife to make thin, hairlike shreds. Repeat with remaining leaves. Set aside shredded greens.
• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large kettle over medium high heat. Add sausage slices and fry until lightly colored and fat is rendered, about 10 minutes. Remove from pot with slotted spoon and reserve. Add remaining tablespoon oil to pot, then add onions and salt and pepper. Stir well, then cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, 5 minutes. Add the garlic, stir, and cook one minute until its aroma is released. Add the potatoes, turn the heat to medium high, and saute 3 to 5 minutes until onions and potatoes begin to color. Add the water, cover, and simmer over low heat until potatoes can be mashed easily against side of pot with a wooden spoon, about 25 minutes. When potatoes are soft, turn off the heat and use a potato masher to thoroughly crush and blend. Add the sausage, turn the heat on to medium, and simmer 5 minutes to bring the flavors together. Stir in the greens and cook 5 minutes until bright green and tender. Taste, adjust seasoning, and serve.
• This soup, literally Green Soup, could be called the national dish of Portugal. It is traditionally made with a type of flat green cabbage called couve gallego.
• The method of slicing leaves like this is called a chiffonade in the French lexicon. Important to get them thin enough that they will cook quickly.

PORTUGUESE GREEN SOUP (CALDO VERDE)

Steps:

• In a medium soup pot, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil, add onions and garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until they turn glassy, don't let them get brown. Add potatoes and water. Cover and boil gently over medium heat for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a skillet cook sausage until most of the fat is rendered out. Drain and reserve. When the potatoes are tender mash them with a potato masher right in the pot. Add sausage to the soup, and then add the kale. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the remaining olive oil and season. Ladle into bowls and serve.

CALDO VERDE (PORTUGUESE CABBAGE SOUP)

Steps:

• Pour the oil into soup pot and saute onions for five minutes.
• Add the potatoes, cabbage, chicken stock, wine, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat and cover the pot. Simmer for an hour. Turn off the heat and let soup rest for 10 minutes.
• Serve hot.

CALDO VERDE WITH SAUSAGE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook onion and garlic in 3 tablespoons olive oil for 3 or 4 minutes.
• Stir in potatoes and cook, stirring constantly, 3 or 4 minutes more.
• Pour in water, bring to a boil, and let boil gently for 20 minutes, until potatoes are real mushy.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-low heat, cook sausage until it has release most of its fat, 10 minutes.
• Drain.
• Mash potatoes or puree.
• Add the sausage, salt and pepper into the soup and return to medium heat.
• Cover and simmer 5 minutes.
• Just before serving, stir kale into soup and simmer, until kale is tender and jade green.
• Stir in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and serve at once.