Parsley Soup (Simon Hopkinson)
This soup is one of the most surprsing things I've ever made. I have described it as: "parsley, as imagined by God." It comes from "Roast Chicken and Other Stories," which one British reviewer quite reasonably declared the most useful cookbook of all time. It contains six ingredients, but that's misleading, because the parsley is prepared in three different ways.
Again this is a clean rip-off of the original, which I doubt could be improved on. If there is some sad, wannabee replacement for cream somewhere, it could even be made vegan. It comes together quickly, and I've even served it the next day chilled as parsley mousse. Fresh, springy broad-leafed Italian parsley is essential. I often substitute chicken for vegetable stock in recipes. That would be a dreadful mistake here, but a mild dashi might work well. A few unseasoned croutons on top would provide a nice texture change.
butter – 75g
2 leeks – white parts – sliced (being a cheap Scot, I include the bright green internal parts, too, and they do no harm)
2 large bunches of well-washed Italian broad-leaved parsley, separating the stalks from the leaves.
1 large potato – chopped
vegetable stock – 750 ml (I honestly don't know a good commercial version; water would be better)
s & p
double cream – 150 ml
Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the chopped leeks and the parsley stalks and sweat uncovered for 20 minutes.
Add the potato and stock and simmer for a further 20 minutes. Add half of the parsley leaves (roughly chopped) and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile blanch the remaining parsley leaves in vigorously boiling water for 30 seconds, remove and immediately cool with ice water or a cold running tap. Squeeze out as much water as you can using a clean tea towel (dishcloth)
Remove the soup from the heat, add the squeezed parsley and liquidize with an immersion blender.
Force the soup through a fine sieve into another saucepan (don't skip this step!), return to the heat, add the cream and season to taste.