Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Purslane Soup with Chorizo

I'm moving back to the US in June! Which might--might!--mean more frequent posts. It will definitely mean more frequent eating of pork, in any case.

I found this recipe when I was surfing the internet searching for more things to do with purslane. One of the perks of living in Turkey is that you can get all these absolutely incredible greens, many of which I have never seen before. I have grown particularly fond of this one (called semizotu in Turkish), and was happy to learn that it is actually possible to get it in the States. So I wanted to know what else I could do with it (besides my pot o' greens soup). I was really intrigued by this recipe -- mashed potatoes and rice in soup? -- but I figured who knows, it could be awesome, and indeed, it was.

I'm going to paste in the recipe in case the link stops working, with some edits for the changes I made (using Mexican chorizo instead of Spanish, dried mint instead of fresh, not blending the soup, etc). This was so, so delicious. Could also easily be a meal in and of itself.

Purslane Soup
From Piri Piri Starfish by Tessa Kiros
(Makes about 1.75 litres / 61 fl oz / 7 cups)

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled
2 small links (maybe 2.5inches each?) of Mexican chorizo

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 Tbsp white wine
8 baby potatoes, peeled and halved
2-3 tsps coarse salt

1 boullion cube
2/3 cup rice
A bunch of purslane
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp dried mint

juice of half a lemon


Heat the oil and butter in a large stockpot and sauté the onion until softened and golden. Use the vegetable peeler to shred in the carrot (or grate it) and chorizo and sauté for a while longer until it smells good, then add the garlic and cook until you can smell it.

Add the wine and cook until almost evaporated. Add the potato, salt and a couple of twists of pepper, turning it through with a wooden spoon and sautéing for a couple of minutes more. Add 1.5 litres (52 fl oz / 6 cups) of hot water. Bring to the boil, lower the heat slightly, cover the pot and cook at a high simmer for 20 minutes or so. Remove from the heat.

With a slotted spoon (or a fork, so as not to get the chorizo!), scoop out the potatoes into a bowl. Mash the potatoes roughly in the bowl and leave on one side for now.

Add the rice to the pot and bring back to the boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to make sure it doesn't stick. Add cinnamon, dried mint, and boullion cube. Cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the purslane  and mashed potatoes, bring back to the boil, then simmer uncovered for another 10 minutes or so until the rice is just cooked. Add lemon juice (it is absolutely crucial -- it cuts the fat of the chorizo and brightens the flavor).