Watercress Soup (Soupe au Cresson)
A deliciously nutritious French watercress soup made with potato. Packed with vitamins and minerals with a particularly gorgeous spicy flavour - even a bit cheesy!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 25 g (1oz/ ¼ stick) butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 large floury potato (Binje, Maris Piper) peeled, roughly chopped
- 750 ml (3 cups) vegetable stock (or chicken broth)
- 1 large bunch of watercress 200g once prepared - smaller stems included (big woody ones discarded)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt & black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash the watercress, drain in a colander and set aside. Chop off the bottom stalks and keep the smaller stems (discard the large, thick stalks) and reserve a few smaller leaves for the garnish.
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan or heavy pot. Sweat the onion and garlic until cooked but not browned for about 5 minutes.
- Add the nutmeg then the chopped potato, watercress leaves (including the smaller stems) and stock. Heat to only a brief boil (the leaves will quickly wilt) then lower the heat and simmer, covered with the lid slightly askew to let some steam escape. Simmer gently for up to 20 minutes on low heat until the potato is cooked through.
- Blitz the soup with an immersion blender or in a food processor until smooth. Season with salt and black pepper to your taste and top with the remaining watercress leaves.
Notes
To serve: if serving as an elegant starter dish, swirl in a little cream.
Storage: watercress soup freezes well for up to 2 months. Otherwise can keep in the fridge covered for up to 3 days.
Thickness: Either use one large potato or 2 medium potatoes - don't skip this ingredient, otherwise it will be too thin.
Nutrition
Calories: 169kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 2gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 1379mgPotassium: 434mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 566IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 21mgIron: 1mg
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