Portuguese “School” Soup

Now that we are living in the UK, my eldest boy, who is nearly five, is attending the reception class of our local primary school.  The school dinners here are now very good, offering salad bars, freshly cooked pastas and meat dishes, together with a wide variety of fruit and vegetable options and accompaniments.  But, the one thing that is missing is soup.  At the schools and nursery’s in Portugal, soup is given at every school meal as a prelude to the main and not only does it provide a fantastic way of getting your five a day, it is substantial, hearty and teaches the children to have a healthy attitude towards vegetables (even if you can’t get them in to them with their mains!).  I have put together a basic recipe that the whole family can enjoy.  The vegetables I have used here are available in Portugal, but you can use whatever you like, just make sure you have a base of carrot and potato.

Ingredients

• 6 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 ribs of celery, roughly chopped
• 2 potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 medium sized leek, roughly chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• crystal salt to taste
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil

Method

• Combine all the vegetables into a large stock pot and add enough water to measure approximately ½ cup above the vegetables.
• Bring to the boil and then reduce to a low simmer for 20 minutes.
• Add the olive oil and salt and then process with a hand held blender or food processor until smooth.
• Ladle into warm bowls, drizzle lightly with olive oil and serve with your favourite bread.

Seafood Cataplana

Here's how to make a Seafood Cataplana, a traditional Algarvian meal

Ingredients

1 kilo fresh firm fish fillets, such as monkfish, snapper, cod, cut into large chunks
12 mussels (shell on), cleaned
12 clams (shell on), cleaned
12 king prawns (shell on)
6 squid tubes, sliced into 1cm rings
1 cup of white wine
60 mills extra virgin olive oil
1 large brown onion, cut into long slices
1 green pepper, cut into long slices
1 red pepper, cut into long slices
2 tomatoes, skinned, seeds removed and roughly chopped
5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
10 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves

Salt to taste

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
   
2. Heat a large skillet and add olive oil, then add the onions and garlic and saute until soft.
3. Add peppers and gently saute for another 5 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.
5. In a Cataplana or heavy oven proof casserole dish, add the seafood, vegetables and remaining ingredients.
   
6. Cover with lid and cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
   
7. Place in 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.
8. Ladle into warmed soup bowls and serve with crusty bread.

...and that's how to make a seafood cataplana!

Rojões – Portuguese Pork with Cumin, Paprika and White Wine

Here's my take on how to make Portuguese Rojões, a traditional northern Portuguese dish.

Ingredients

1 kilo pork, cut into large chunks
2 teaspoons coarse salt
4 garlic cloves, sliced thickly
1 teaspoon carraway seeds
2 teaspoons cumin
3 bayleaves, torn
1 bottle white wine
1/4 cup olive oil

extra olive oil for frying
2 large potatoes, cut into large chunks

Method

• Marinade the meat in all of the above ingredients over night. This must be prepared the day before for all the flavors to fuse, or you will not get the correct result.
• The following day, remove the pork from the marinade and set aside. It is important to keep the marinade for the cooking process.
  
• Heat oil in a large frying pan and brown pork on all sides.
• Place pork in a large saucepan and pour in the marinade.
• Bring to the boil then reduce heat to a low simmer and cover.
• Gently cook for 3 hours.
• Add potatoes and cook for a further 30 mins.
• Serve with rice and tomato salad.

...and that's how to make rojões!

Caldo Verde (Portuguese Green Soup)

This is how I make Caldo Verde, a very popular soup in Portugal. You can omit the linguica or chourico to be a lovely vegetarian pottage.

Ingredients

1 onion, roughly chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
6 tablespoons of olive oil
6 medium sized potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1 litre water
200 grams linguica or chourico sausage, sliced very thinly (alternatively use a strong garlic flavoured sausage)
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
200 grams couve galega, very finely shreaded into strips (alternatively use kale or turnip greens)
Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat olive oil in large pot and sweat onion and garlic, with the lid on for 10 minutes on a low heat.
2. Add water, then add potatoes, and carrot.
3. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Take of the heat and blend.
5. Return to the heat and add the greens, sausage and salt to taste. Simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes.
6. Serve with warmed crusty bread and a drizzle of olive oil.

...and that's how to make Caldo Verde!

Portuguese Tomato Salad

Ingredients

6 ripe tomatoes
1 large salad onion
1 desert spoon oregano
1/4 cup of olive oil
coarse sea salt

Method

1. Submerge tomatoes into a bowl of boiling water for two minutes, then drain and rinse with cold tap water.
2. Peel off skin and discard.
3. Roughly chop tomatoes and place in salad dish.
4. Peel onions, slice rounds and separate.
5. Add salt, olive oil and oregano and mix thoroughly.
   
6. Sit at room temperature until ready to serve. The salt will draw out the acid in the tomato and form a natural marinade.

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Portuguese Algarvian Vegetable Soup (Soupa da Legumes)

Ingredients

3 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 large potatoes, roughly chopped
4 large carrots, roughly chopped
1 small carrot, extra thinly sliced
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5 litres water
500 mills water extra
1 teaspoon dried corriander
1 handful spinich, leaves whole
Salt to taste

Method

1. Add olive oil, potato, onion, garlic and carrots to sauce pan.
2. Lightly sautee to soften vegetables, about 5 mins, stirring frequently so potato doesn't stick to the bottom of pot.
3. Add water and bring to boil.
4. Simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Blend until smoothe.
6. Add extra water, sliced carrot and spinich and cook for a further 5 minutes or until carrot has cooked through and spinich has wilted.
7. Serve in warm soup bowls with coarse rustic bread.