Saturday, 15th June 2008 – Recipes (Lettuce Soup – for Lettuce Haters)

Lettuce Soup – for Lettuce Haters

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 250g (8oz) lettuce leaves and stalk, sliced
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 litre light chicken stock or water
• 150ml double or whipping cream
• 1 large egg yolk
• parsley or chevil, chopped
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Melt the butter and cook the onion and garlic for five minutes, slowly.
2. Add the lettuce and mix everything together for 1 minute then sprinkle with flour. Stir again and cook for a further minute then gradually add the stock or water.
3. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Puree the soup in a blender, pour into a rinsed out bowl and strain. If pureeing has made the soup too thick, dilute it with water.
5. Add seasoning to taste.
6. Bring the soup back to the boil.
7. In a soup tureen, whisk cream and egg yolk together, pour on a ladle of boiling soup and whisk again, then add the rest of the soup.
8. Stir in some chopped parsley.
9. Serve with croutons.

Notes:

Both the egg yolk and the cream are optional or can be swapped for single cream, milk, creme fraiche, yogurt, coconut milk (low fat or ordinary) or similar. However, it will taste much richer with the cream.