Spring Sorrel Soup Recipes

SZCZAWIOWA: POLISH SORREL SOUP WITH FRIED BACON FLAKES AND SOFT-BOILED EGG

Steps:

• Wash all leaves, pat them dry and chop them roughly.
• Peel onion, dice it finely.
• In a heavy-bottomed stock pot, melt butter. Add diced onion and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes, until lightly golden.
• Add chopped leaves with a pinch of salt, combine with a spatula. Stew under a lid for around 3-5 minutes.
• Pour broth in, stir and bring to a near-boil. Reduce the heat (so that the soup just simmers), cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes.
• [Optional] Using a slotted spoon, remove around one-fifth of the leaves and into a bowl. Set aside.
• Blend soup with immersion blender until smooth. Alternatively, if using a food processor, allow the soup to cool down first, then move it over to the device's container, blend until smooth and return to the pot.
• [Optional] If you removed one-fifth of the leaves, now it's the moment to return them to the pot.
• Add 0.5 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, a pinch of ground pepper and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stir and have a taste. Is it too sour for your liking? Add a touch of sugar. Is it not sour enough? Add more lemon juice.
• Bring the soup to desired temperature. Add cream and stir.
• Pour into individual bowls or soup plates. Garnish with eggs, lemon zest, fresh thyme and fried & crushed bacon. Serve immediately.

CHILLED WATERCRESS, SPRING NETTLE, AND SORREL SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, warm the olive oil and butter over medium heat until the butter is foamy. Add the onion, leeks, garlic, and salt, and stir to coat. Let cook 10 minutes, then add 4 cups stock or water. Bring to a simmer. Add the watercress and nettles and simmer just until tender. Using a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl, strain the soup, separating the liquid from the solids, but reserve both. Transfer both to the refrigerator and cool 2 hours. Remove the separated cooled soup ingredients from the refrigerator and recombine. Puree the soup in batches in the food processor or in a blender, and add the sorrel leaves a little at a time. The soup will have some texture. When finished processing, taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Transfer the soup to chilled bowls and garnish with a spoonful of crème fraîche, a drizzle of olive oil, and a few thin slices of leek tops or green garlic tops.

SORREL SOUP

Steps:

• Remove stems from Sorrel leaves, wash in salad spinner and set aside, reserving 2 leaves for garnish.
• Sauté finely chopped onion in butter until translucent.
• Heat broth but do not boil.
• Add sorrel leaves to onions and wilt.
• Add flour, stirring constantly until smooth.
• Continue stirring while adding hot broth.
• Simmer 5 minutes.
• Put through blender 1 cup at a time, or use hand held blender directly in sauce pan, using low speed.
• Return soup to low heat, do not allow to boil.
• Lightly beat egg yolks in a large cup, slowly stirring into them a little of the hot soup.
• Slowly pour the mixture back into the soup while stirring.
• Continue to stir while adding cream.
• Heat through, but do not boil.
• Season to taste.
• Garnish with thin slices of reserved Sorrel leaves and rounds of toasted baguette.