Portuguese kale soup from Ourique

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Portuguese kale soup from Ourique
Ourique (Portugal), April 2016	printable version

We stayed a few weeks in the southern part of the Portuguese Alentejo region, and wanted to prepare a local dish, of course with some of our own influences. One of the ingredients that the region is very proud of, is Porco Preto, or black pig. If you travel through the region, you see these pigs having a comfortable life in the orchards throughout the Alentejo, so our choice was easy. We do not often cook with meat, but here we made an exception. We eventually chose for the famous Portuguese kale soup (Caldo Verde) with Porco Preto chorizo.

The ingredients for the Portugese Caldo Verde soup

Ingredients (main course for two persons) 2 tablespoons olive oil 200 grams Porco Preto chorizo sausage, sliced 2 cloves garlic 2 teaspoons paprika powder black pepper piri piri (a type of chilli) 2 onions chopped 600g floury potatoes, peeled and cubed 1.2 litres chicken broth 450g kale, chopped

Preparations for the actual cooking

Preparation 1. Heat the oil is a soup pan with a thick bottom and fry the chorizo at a high fire for about 5 minutes until brown and crispy. 2. Take the chorizo from the pan and keep aside (leave the oil/fat in the soup pan). 3. Fry the garlic, paprika powder and onion for about 5 minutes in the chorizo fat. 4. Add the potatoes and the broth and let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes on a low fire. 5. If you have a potato masher, you can mash the potatoes. 6. Add the kale and let the soup simmer for another 5 minutes. 7. Season the soup with black pepper, piri piri (carefully) and add the chorizo. 8. Serve with local Portuguese bread. Bon appetit!

Frying the Porco Preto chorizo slices

Cooking on our Coleman petrol stove

Almost ready

Our own version of the Portugese Caldo Verde soup

Ready to eat!