Watercress Soup (Soupe au Cresson)
A deliciously healthy French watercress soup made with potato. Packed with vitamins with a particularly gorgeous spicy flavour - even a bit cheesy!
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 (1½ pints/ 3 cups) vegetable stock (or chicken)
- 1 large bunch of watercress 200g once prepared - smaller stalks included (big woody ones discarded)
- good pinch Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash the watercress, drain and set aside. Chop off the bottom stalks and keep the smaller stalks (discard the large, thick stalks) and reserve a few smaller leaves for the garnish.
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan and 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 stalks) and stock. Heat to a brief boil then lower the heat and simmer, covered with the lid slightly askew to let some steam escape. Simmer gently for up to 20 minutes until the potato is cooked through.
- Blitz the soup with an immersion blender or in a food processor until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
Notes
Freezes well for up to 2 months. Otherwise can keep in the fridge covered for up to 3 days.
If serving as an elegant starter dish, swirl in a little cream.
Nutritional Information: 124 Calories per serving; 2g Protein; 9g Lipids; 8g carbohydrates.