Watercress Soup (Watercress soup)
Overview
Watercress soup is a classic English soup with a fresh, peppery taste. An onion and sometimes a leek are softened in butter, then diced potatoes and vegetable or chicken stock are added and simmered until tender. Several bunches of watercress, stalks and all, are stirred in at the very end and cooked for only a minute or two, so they keep their bright colour, and the soup is blended until smooth and deep green. It is finished with a little cream or crème fraîche, seasoned with salt, pepper and nutmeg, and garnished with a few fresh watercress leaves. It is good hot or chilled.
History
Watercress has been grown in clear chalk streams in Hampshire and Hertfordshire since the early nineteenth century, and the Watercress Line railway was named after the crop it once carried to London. Watercress was so cheap and common that Victorian street sellers sold it in bunches for breakfast. The soup is a fixture of English home cooking and the town of Alresford holds a watercress festival every May.
Main ingredients
Watercress, potatoes, onion, butter, stock, cream. The soup is built on peppery green purée and is usually served hot. Diet: vegetarian; usually gluten-free.
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Recipe
Method
- 15 min
Soften the onion in the butter for 5 minutes.
- 215 min
Add the potatoes and stock and simmer for 15 minutes.
- 32 min
Add the watercress and cook for 2 minutes only.
- 4
Blend until smooth and stir in the cream.
- 5
Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper and serve hot or chilled.
- ✓
Serve. About 35 min from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
