Caldo Verde.

If you follow along with my Friday Menu plans, you may have noticed last week that there was a new soup on there!


Caldo Verde.
Aka: Kale and potato soup with chorizo.
Aka: A bowl of smoky heaven.
Aka: My new favorite soup for fall.


A special ingredient in this recipe caught my eye and I just had to give it a try.  Have you ever cooked with chorizo?  It is a Spanish sausage of sorts (I'm not going to tell you what part it's made with...) that is infused with spicy goodness.  Add in some homegrown new potatoes, a few bunches of chopped homegrown kale, mineral rich chicken stock, smoked paprika, and homegrown dried chilis - and friend, you've got a bone-warming, spicy soup that will blow your socks off.


I know I always say this, but truly, this soup is super easy to make.  Because there are such few ingredients, I would recommend using the highest quality ones you can find.  It makes a difference.


Ready to put a little spice in your life?  Let's do this.

Caldo Verde
You will need: 
 - 1 1/2 lbs. of fingerling potatoes
 - 1 tablespoon butter, lard, or reserved bacon grease
 - 1 1/2 lbs. of high quality chorizo (I used half pork, half beef) removed from casing
 - 2 shallots, minced
 - 4 garlic cloves, minced
 - 3 dried chili peppers, minced
 - 5 carrots, peeled and chopped
 - 8 cups chicken stock (homemade is best!)
 - 2 bunches kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
 - 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
 - Salt & pepper to taste

Step One:  In a large soup pot, melt the butter, lard, or bacon grease.  Then, add in your chorizo and cook it thouroughly.  Allow it to hang out in the pot for a little while and release it's spicy goodness.  Make sure the chorizo is warmed and cooked all the way through before moving on.  


Step Two:  While the chorizo is cooking, add the fingerling potatoes to a pot of warm water, bring to a boil, and cook the potatoes until they are fork tender.  Strain the potatoes & hang onto them for just a minute.  Note:  The soup is much prettier with whole potatoes, so try your best to use little ones!

Step Three:  After the chorizo is cooked, add in your shallots, carrots, garlic, and chili peppers.  Give 'em a stir and allow them to sweat it out a bit in the pot.   Maybe five minutes or so.

Step Four:  Pour in your chicken broth.  Then, gently add in your potatoes.  Bring the soup to a simmer and allow it to continue simmering for 15-20 minutes (this allows the flavors to mingle!).

Step Five:  Right before serving, throw in your chopped kale and allow it to wilt.
Okay, fine, don't literally throw in your kale - that could get messy.  Gently place your kale...that's better.


Step Six:  Season to taste with salt and pepper, dish up, drizzle with a little olive oil if you desire, and enjoy!

Super flavorful.  Super rich in minerals.  Super delicious.


This is the type of soup that must be served with a delicious crusty bread.  I'm just warnin' ya - you better have some on hand, because you're going to want to dunk something in this beautiful red broth.  Trust me.

And speaking of bread...


...Remember how I said I was thinking about doing a 30 day no-wheat-detox?  Well, that ain't happening.  Instead, I've succome to the desire for crusty bread and I have been baking baguettes like crazy. And guess what? I'm not even using whole wheat.


Nope.  


I'm using store-bought, organic, unbleached bread flour.


And you know what?


It's amazing.  Sorry Sally Fallon & fellow Nourishing Tradition junkies, but it's true.


I've been playing with fermenting the bread, so as to help improve the nutritional black-hole that is non-whole-wheat-flour.  I love the depth of flavor & texture that fermentation bring about in bread - it's extraordinary!  I'm still perfecting the art of fermentation, and if I know my baking ability this "perfecting" will take quite a while, but in the meantime, I've still been enjoying the unadulterated sin of eating baguettes.


Betcha didn't know I was such a rebel, did ya?  And unless I run off with my motorcycle gang or join a protest of sorts, I suppose I'll be back with another mind-blowing post tomorrow...


Happy Caldo Verde making!  

This post part of Real Food Wednesdays.