Chickpea, Pumpkin & Spinach Soup - Sopa de Abobora, Grao e Espinafre

As winter draws to a close, I thought I'd get in the last of the winter soups.
This is one of my nephews favorite soups, the other one being Vietnamese chicken noodle soup.
When I tell him were having soup he asks eagerly if it's this soup.
This soup was made by my mother on a very regular basis.

Pumpkins are very popular in the Algarve, surprisingly though the Algarvians don't roast them like we do here in Australia, they are either used in soups, desserts( yes, desserts) or boiled with other vegetables & meat.
Chickpeas are also a staple throughout Portugal, & are usually an accompaniment with meat dishes.

A great soup for vegans.
I love the creaminess of the chickpeas, the sweetness of the pumpkin & the silkiness of the spinach.
I like using baby spinach, you can use English spinach as well. I like to use these two in the soup as the soup has a delicate quality which is a perfect matching for the type of spinach that's used.

Recipe ( Serves 8 )

•  2kg pumpkin, peeled, deseeded,chopped into chunks
• 2 onions,chopped
• 6 garlic cloves,minced
• 2 potatoes,peeled & cut into chunks
• 200ml olive oil
• 12 cups water
• 2 tab salt
• 375g chickpeas tinned
• 500g baby spinach

1. Peel & deseeded the pumpkin. Cutting the pumpkin into chunks.

2. Peel the onions & garlic & chop.

3. Peel the potatoes & cut into chunks.

4. In a large pot  heat the oil on medium heat, add the onions & garlic, saute with no colour.

5. Then add the pumpkin & potato, saute for 1 min.

6. Add the water & salt, turn up the heat on high  till it boils then turn down the heat & cook for 40 min.

 
7. Once the potatoes are cooked blend the soup with a hand blender.

8. After the soup is blended add the chickpea & cook a further 15min on low heat.

9. At this stage if the soup is a bit thin keep cooking to reduce the liquid, if it's too thick add a bit more water. 

10. Just before serving add the baby spinach.

Spinach & Potato Soup - Caldo Verde

 
As winter is drawing to a close & spring is on the horizon I thought I'd get in as many soups into the blog as possible.
What can I say about this soup, it's THE most popular soup in all of Portugal, the soup that says, yes I'm Portuguese!
Literally translated this soup means Green broth,which doesn't sound that appealing, it's more of a thick hearty potato, spinach & chorizo soup, fantastic for winter.
This soup originated in the north of Portugal, the Minho province, the weather here is cold during winter & potatoes are a staple of this area.
I have a theory that the soup pays homage to it's country of origin, the soup looks very much like the green hills of this area & also has the colour of the deep green of the Atlantic ocean.

I'm always featuring the food of the Algarve, which as many of you know is where my parents are from, so it's great that I can feature a northern dish, my husbands family is in the next province over which is still part of the north.
This area is beautiful with it's lush vegetation & historic cities.

Traditionally this soup is accompanied with the bread of this region which is Broa a kind of cornbread,  a very filling & hearty bread.
In Portugal Kale is used but here is Australia we don't have kale so I always use Silverbeet spinach.

Recipe
Serves 6 people

• 3 medium brown onions,chopped in small dice
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 850g potatoes, peeled & chopped
• 2 lt water
• 1 tab salt
• 2 chorizo ( weighing 30g ea) skin removed & added whole
• 2 bunches silverbeet spinach, washed thoroughly

1. In a deep heavy set pot add olive oil on a medium heat & saute the onions & garlic, cook till translucent with no colour.

2. Add the sliced potatoes , water, salt & the whole chorizo.
Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a low/medium heat, till the potatoes are cooked, 40 min.

                      Silverbeet Spinach

3. While the soup is cooking clean the silverbeet well removing any dirt.
Remove the stalk from the leaf, discard the stalk.
Roll 2 leaves together into a cigar shape & with a sharp knife shred the leaves as thinly as possible.

4. Once the potatoes are cooked, remove the chorizo from the pot & slice into thin slices & set aside. Then blend the soup with a hand mixer  or a blender.

4

5. Once the soup is blended add the silverbeet  & the sliced chorizo & cook on a low heat for 20 min. Drizzle a bit of olive oil onto the soup if you like.


Broa (Corn Bread)

• 14g dried yeast
• 200ml lukewarm water
• 1 tab olive oil
• 1 tea salt
• 1 cup polenta
• 3 cups bread flour

1. Sprinkle the yeast into a bowl & add the lukewarm water then add the olive oil, salt & the polenta & bread flour.

2. Combine all the ingredients together, into a large ball.

 3. Shape the dough mixture into individual balls, the mix makes 5 med to large rolls.

 4. Bake the rolls at 180 degrees for 30 min.

  TIPS

• When making the soup, I like to add the chorizo to the potato broth as this imparts the flavour of the chorizo & adds extra flavour.

• You can add extra water to the soup if it becomes too thick.

• No need to knead the corn bread or rest it, you can just basically put it all together, shape it & bake it.

    Towns in the Minho province

    The beautiful lush vegetation I spoke about

  

    A historic city

Berlotti Bean Soup - Sopa de Feijao

I've discovered soup in the last several years. I love chunky hearty soups, an all in one meal.
Soup wasn't my favorite meal as a child actually I hated it.
This soup is a favorite in many Portuguese house holds.
With the weather cool outside it's something that I make at least once a week.
Soup is one of those dishes that you can basically use any vegetables you have in your fridge.
The quantity for this soup is pretty large it feeds 6-8 people, but that's how I make my soups, in large batches so that I can have extra in the fridge during the week or it can be frozen.


Ingredients 

• 375g dry borlotti beans
• 250ml olive oil
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 carrots, diced small
• 1/4 cabbage savoy, chopped
• 1 sweet potato medium, diced
• 14 cups water
• 1 cup cauliflower, cut into small florets
• 1 cup pumpkin, diced 2cm dice
• 1/2 cup green beans, cut into 2cm  pieces
• 1 chorizo whole, skin removed
• 2 bay leaves 
• 1 bunch thyme leaves
• 380g speck or bacon bones
• 1x 400g tomatoes tinned, chopped
• 4 tab parsley, chopped
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Place the borlotti beans in a large bowl & cover completely with water, cover them with cling film & leave to soak 8-10 hours or over night.

2. Drain the soaked beans & place them in a separate pot covered with water & cook on high heat for 40 minutes. Once cooked drain & refresh in cold water. DO NOT ADD ANY SALT OR THE BEANS WON'T COOK.

3. In a deep pot saute the onions & garlic, with oil on medium heat, till soft, then add the carrots, sweet potato & cook for 1 minute. 

4. Then add the chorizo, speck, bay leaves, tomatoes, thyme, water & cook for 1 1/2 hour on medium to low heat.



5. Then add the beans into the pot & cook a further 1 hour.


6. After the hour remove the chorizo, speck,bay leaves (discard these) & cut the meat into pieces, discarding any fatty bits if you like. 
 

7. With a hand blender pulse the soup for 15 seconds, this thickens the soup, don't over pulse, you still want chunky bits.

8. Return the chorizo, speck & the rest of the vegetables,  & cook a further 30 min on low heat stirring the soup once in a while.
At this stage you can add salt & pepper.


You may need to add extra water midway through out cooking so you have a good amount of liquid, without it being watery.  

Finish off by adding chopped parsley & olive oil (optional). 

Tips

• Use any type of vegetables you like
• You don't have to pulverize the soup I just find that it adds a texture I like
• You can use canned borlotti beans instead
• You can replace bacon bones for speck
• When cooking any type of dried legumes add the salt only after it's cooked otherwise the skin hardens & they'll never soften & cook.
• If you like you can substitute sweet potato with white potato