Portuguese Purslane Soup

As an assignment for one of my classes this term, we were asked to visit the farmer’s market to acquire something we hadn’t cooked with before.  I was excited about the assignment as I LOVE the farmer’s market …  any shape or size, I’m into it.

I wanted to visit my friend Rick of Abundant Fields Farm, so I chose to go to the Montavilla market, where I knew he would be.  I imagined that he’d have some cool new thing that I could try and ask him about.  To my dismay, all his veg looked familiar.  What?  No Spanish black radish or chrysanthemum leaves today, Rick?  Dang.

So, I head out instead to “do a lap.”  This amazingly generous girl selling raw desserts next to Rick offers to watch my child for me, and though, no, I do not know her, this is Portland, Oregon, and my friend Rick is in the adjacent booth, so, I agree.  Relieved to be on my own, I begin my search.  A couple booths in, I see some garlic pork sausage that I really want.  I didn’t think that was the sort of thing my instructors had in mind (our prompt asks about where the item is grown).  So, I pass.  I continue on, booth after booth, and I really don’t see anything new or exciting … until I get to one of the last booths, Fiddlehead Farm.  I see a large bunch of something initially unidentifiable.  Upon closer look, I realize it’s purslane.  A weed!  I love that these farmers are doing what we used to do at I farm I worked for in California.  We would harvest amaranth and lambs quarters, weeds that grew abundantly and on their own in between and at the ends of row crops, and sold them to customers.  I paid $2.50 for a bunch of weeds!!

This picture is from Fiddlehead Farm’s Instagram feed and shows how this weed can really take over a row of crops:

 

I asked Fiddlehead farmer, Katie Coppoletta, about the purslane.  We talked about how it’s found on nearly every farm, without being intentionally grown.  I had eaten purslane before, but I had never cooked with it, so I asked if she knew how to prepare it.  She said she eats it raw and in salads, which is what I have done.  I also know it makes a nice pickle.  Then Katie told me that there is a Mexican food cart at the market and that they make a soup with the purslane.  This I had to investigate, so I headed over for some tamales and some education.

Paola, of Mixteca, and Yuri, who graciously translated, explain that purslane, which is called verdolaga in Spanish, is good for the skin and gut.  They tell me to boil it in shallow water for 15 mins and then to add it to eggs, stewed pork or chicken with salsa verde, or chicken or beef broth with a little salt and cilantro.  You can also make soups with it and in this case you do not have to precook it.  Paola even says you can use the roots as a liver cleanser by making a tea of them.

This got my creative juices going.  I went home and did a google search for purslane soup.  I found a delicious looking Portuguese soup and because I’m half Portuguese, it struck my fancy.  And let me tell you, this recipe is a WINNER!  Thank you Tessa Kiros for sharing your genius with the world, and I will now be checking out all of your cookbooks!

This is Tessa’s amazing recipe, from her book, Piri Piri Starfish:  Portugal Found, with some of my notes to the side.

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

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 large onion, roughly chopped  (I used half a large)
1 carrot, peeled and chopped  (definitely did not peel)
40g (1 1/2 oz) chourico or spicy sausage, cut into 2-3 slices  (this turned out to be only 1/3 of a sausage link, so I used the whole link, without the casing)
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 Tbsp white wine
600g (1 lb 5 oz) potatoes, peeled and halved  (I used half sweet potatoes and chopped them all, which reduced cooking time)
2-3 tsps coarse salt
85g (3oz / heaped 1/3 cup) parboiled variety of rice  (I cooked brown basmati to half-done)
125g (4 1/2 oz) purslane leaves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
juice of half a lemon
10 fresh mint leaves, to serve
Heat the oil and butter in a large stockpot and sauté the onion until softened and golden. Add the carrot and chourico 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 homemade chicken broth. 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, scoop out the potatoes into a bowl (I skipped this step). Take out the chourico slices (skipped this one, too).  Purée until smooth.

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 the purslane, bring back to the boil, then simmer uncovered for another 20 minutes or so until the rice is just cooked.

Stir the thickened pup every now and then to make sure it is not sticking. Stir in the cinnamon, to taste, and the lemon juice.  Serve hot, with mint leaves on top.  Enjoy!  This soup was easy to prepare, hearty, and super tasty.  Next time I will probably double the amount of purslane as I think it could have used more.