“Though my family has a (well known!) tradition of Kale Soup, I’ll take a good Caldo Verde any day. Caldo Verde is made with simple ingredients: potatoes, onions, garlic, kale. Usually made with water as a base, I like to use a vegetable stock. I love it as is, but Portuguese Chourico or Andouille Sausage are a great addition.”
Caldo Verde Ingredients:
2 large yellow onions, diced
6 garlic cloves, crushed
2 lbs Farm Grown Red potatoes (next batch I make will be with the Pinto Potatoes…can’t wait!)
Washed and cubed (I leave the skin on)
2 quarts Vegetable Stock
2 bunches kale, cleaned, stemmed, chopped
Method:
In a large, heavy bottomed pot, sauté onions in olive oil until translucent and tender. (Lower heat so they don’t brown), Add garlic, continue cooking for five minutes, Add potatoes, stir to coat with all the garlicky, oniony goodness. Add veg stock. bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, continue until potatoes are tender. Stir in kale (in batches…chopped kale looks like a large volume, but cooks down well!) Simmer for about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. At this point, you have choices. You can leave it as is: chunky. You could purée it with a hand held burr mixer or… my preference; break it up with a simple potato masher to meld those spectacular ingredients. A drizzle of good EVOO and served with a slice of Sheila’s Pink Salt Sourdough… what more do you need?
-written by Mj Mojer, Store Manager