Soupe de laitues (lettuce soup)

6 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
5 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1 cup Onion; chopped
1 cup Leek; washed, drained, and chopped
8 cups Chicken Stock; (See Kitchen Staff Tips)
4 cups Potatoes; peeled and diced
1 teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 smalls Heads Lettuce; leaves separated, rinsed and spun or dried, (Recommend Boston head lettuce)

Directions

Today's recipe is a simple soup and is our second offering during our birthday dinner. Although not commonly seen in American kitchens, it's a French favorite. It's your choice to prepare the soup in advance and serve hot, or cold.

In a large saucepan, melt about 3 tablespoons of the butter over a medium heat setting. Add the onions and leeks, and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock, potatoes, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer, partially covered, for about 40 minutes.

Check soup to make sure the potatoes are tender, then transfer the contents of the saucepan to a blender or food processor. Blend soup until smooth.

(It's easiest to process the soup in about 2-cup batches, returning the processed soup to the original saucepan as you go.) Return the processed soup to the saucepan and keep warm over a low heat setting.

To prepare the lettuce, stack several leaves and roll them up together.

Slice the lettuce rolls into thin strips (In French, finely cut vegetables like this are known as a "chiffonade").

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a sauce pan and add the chiffonade. Sauté for about 3 minutes, until the lettuce is wilted. Stir the lettuce into the soup and adjust the salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the soup into six soup bowls (warmed if you elect to serve the soup hot) and serve immediately. If serving the soup cold, refrigerate the soup for at least an hour prior to serving and served in chilled soup bowls.

Kitchen Staff Tips: We try to keep a variety of fresh stocks in our pantry, so it's easy to prepare a savory soup from scratch in almost no time at all. Our favorite Chicken Stock recipe consists of 2 quarts water, 2 chicken skins and bones from leftover baked chicken, 3 chopped onions, 1 chopped carrot, 2 stalks of chopped celery, 3 springs of fresh thyme and parsley (each), a single bay leaf, and about a tablespoon of black or white peppercorns. To prepare your chicken stock, simply boil the water and chicken with the chopped vegetables and bouquet garni (a bunch of herbs tied with a string), for about 2 hours over a medium heat setting. Time and heat will reduce the original mixture down to about 4 cups of chicken stock. You may refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze the stock for up to 3 months. The Kitchen Staff likes to freeze our chicken stock in 1-cup portions because it's easier to use when pre-measured, then frozen.

Posted to dailyrecipe@... by Recipe-a-Day <recipe-a-day@...> on Oct 2, 1998, converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.

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