Portuguese Cuisine – Sopa à Portuguesa (Portuguese Soup)

Soup is a comfort food, and the Portuguese have many ways to make that comfort food. We raised our children on the Portuguese soup recipe I am going to share with you. It’s versatile; you add or subtract items as the seasons come and go. Since the soup base needs to be pureed, you will need a food mill, or an immersion blender. The Portuguese were way ahead of us with the immersion blender, and it works like a charm, but the food mill works just as well: you just have to work harder.

Sopa à Portuguesa

Soup base: how much you use of each ingredient depends on how much soup you want to make. It’s good left over, so if you find you like it, make a big batch.

2 -3 potatoes

3 – 4 carrots

1 large onion

garlic to taste

1 turnip or more (I prefer rutabagas)

any other root vegetables you may like

1 cup or more of pureed pumpkin (can used canned)

olive oil

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Choose one: turnip greens, spinach, cabbage (or some other kind of green leafy vegetable) or Italian-style green beans
rice (if you like it)

Parsley and cilantro, minced

Peel the potatoes, turnips, onions, garlic and carrots.Cut them into small cubes. Chop the onion, and mash the garlic. Put them all into a large pot, and add the pumpkin. Barely cover with water. Add a spoonful of olive oil. (I usually drop a few chicken cubes in, or use broth.) Bring to a boil, and simmer until the vegetables are tender.

Puree the vegetables with an immersion blender. (Or use a food mill, and put the puree back into the broth in the pot.) 

Rinse the other vegetables. Leafy vegetables should be shredded or torn into small pieces. If you have green beans, they should be kitchen sliced into pieces about 1/8 of an inch long.  Add them to the puree along with a half cup or so of rice and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, and the rice is cooked. 

Stir in some minced Italian parsley, and cilantro to taste. Add salt and pepper if you like.

Sopa à Portuguesa