Potato Watercress Soup With Pesto Food

WATERCRESS SOUP

Steps:

• Season and garnish before serving: Add salt to taste and then add the black pepper. You can either stir the sour cream into the whole batch of soup, or serve a tablespoon of it in the center of each person's bowl.

WATERCRESS AND POTATO SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook, stirring, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the potato, garlic, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper and cook, stirring, until the potatoes are well coated, 2 to 3 minutes more. Pour in the broth and bring to a simmer.
• Simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a simmer. Stir in the watercress and cook 5 minutes more. Remove from the heat, discard the thyme and let cool at least 5 minutes. Carefully puree until smooth with a handheld immersion blender or in 2 to 3 batches in a blender (do not fill the blender more than halfway full per batch).
• Stir in the cream and reheat the soup if necessary, adjusting the consistency and seasoning with additional water, salt and pepper.
• Serve hot sprinkled with almonds and chives.

POTATO-WATERCRESS SOUP WITH PESTO

Steps:

• To make the soup, cook potatoes in boiling water until tender, about 30 minutes. When cool enough to handle, slip off the skins and pass through a ricer. Set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 8 cups of the watercress and blanch for 5 seconds. Immediately drain and refresh under cold running water. Drain and squeeze out excess water. Place in a blender with the yogurt and blend until smooth. Scrape into a bowl and whisk in the milk, mustard, 2 teaspoons salt and pepper to taste. Coarsely chop the remaining 2 cups watercress and stir into the soup. Refrigerate until chilled.
• Meanwhile, to make the pesto, blanch the watercress as above. Drain, squeeze out excess water and coarsely chop with a knife. Place in a blender with the walnuts, garlic, olive oil and salt. Blend until smooth, stopping as necessary to scrape down the sides of the jar.
• Taste soup and add more salt if needed. Ladle the soup among 4 bowls. Place 2 teaspoons of the pesto in the center of each bowl and sprinkle the mustard seeds around it. Serve immediately.

WATERCRESS POTATO SOUP

Steps:

• Coarsely chop watercress leaves and stems seperately. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. Mix in onion, parsley sprigs, thyme sprigs, garlic, bay leaf, and watercress stems. Cover; cook until onion is tender, stirring occasionally; about 12 minutes. Add broth and potatoes; bring to boil. Reduce heat cover and simmer until potatoes are very tender, about 25 minutes.
• Discard parsley, thyme, and bay leaf. Purée soup in processor until smooth. Return soup to same saucepan. Add 1 cup milk and watercress leaves; bring to simmer, adding more milk if soup is too thick. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl. Chill until cold, about 4 hours.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY POTATO SOUP WITH PESTO

Steps:

• TO MAKE THE CRÈME FRAICHE: gently warm the heavy cream. Remove it from the heat and combine it with the buttermilk or sour cream in a glass bowl. Mix well, cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. Give the mixture a good stir once it has thickened, then cover and refrigerate. It will thicken even more once chilled.
• TO MAKE THE PESTO: crush the garlic with the salt and place the mixture in a blender or food processor along with the basil, olive oil and nuts. Blend until the ingredients are finely pureed. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the basil mixture into a small mixing bowl. Fold in the grated cheese and blend well. Carefully stir in the crème fraiche. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• FOR THE SOUP: melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, bay leaf, thyme, leek, onion and celery and cook gently, reducing the heat after a minute or two, until the vegetables are quite tender, about 5 minutes. Do not allow them to brown at all. Add the potatoes, chicken broth and cream. If the potatoes aren't totally submerged in the liquid, add a little water. Simmer the mixture for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through and tender. Puree the potato mixture using a hand held blender or a blender or food processor. Stir in the buttermilk. Wipe the saucepan clean and pour the pureed soup through a fine sieve back into the saucepan. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup while it is still very hot into soup bowls and place a good dollop of pest in the centre of each serving. Run a toothpick through the pest to drag it out decoratively over the surface of the soup.
• Great Potatoes.Kathleen Sloan-McIntosh.

POTATO WATERCRESS SOUP

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add potatoes, watercress and onion to the pot.
• Cook, stirring about 5 minutes until onion is tender. Stir in the broth, half and half cream, pepper and celery seed.
• Cover and cook over low heat, 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
• Using an immersion blender, blend soup until pureed to desired consistency. Adjust seasonings if necessary.
• Serve garnished with watercress sprigs.