Dirty Kitchen Secrets

Lettuce Vichyssoise

Posted on 24. May, 2009 by Bethany in Nibbles, Recipes, Starters, veggie

My first sipping of a lettuce veloute, was in New York, a few weeks ago. I was taken aback by it. I never thought mushy lettuce could blossom in a soup. It was velvetty smooth with a mild taste of salad. Strange but it worked sooo well. So, as soon as I got home, I ventured into the kitchen in an effort to re-create something similiar. With the weather finally nearing pleasant temperatures, I levitated towards something chilled, and as rocket is one of my favorite leaves, I felt compelled to include it.

I followed the basic rules for making a soup; first I sauteed the aromatics like onions, garlic and then added a potato for texture and body. I boiled it all in a fresh vegetable stock before finally adding the lettuce, rocket and tarragon, of course! The rocket adds a lovely peppery undertone while I find tarragon to be a beautiful accompaniment to potatoes and salads. As you know, lettuce and rocket are rather fragile and easily wilt. I thought adding them at the end will help retain their flavor. Since this is going to be a chilled soup, I chose olive oil over butter, as butter solidifies at room temperature.

Another good thing to note is that in these credit crunch times, lettuce soup is an extremely affordable delicacy. Eat your heart out! Best of all, it’s a great make ahead recipe, just take it out of the fridge and give it a quick whizz with a hand blender before serving.

Serves 4

Prep Time: 10 mn

Cook Time: 25 mn

30ml olive oil

1 potato, diced

1 onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 bay leaf

500 ml fresh or good quality vegetable stock

280g lettuce (baby gem)

25g rocket leaves

10g tarragon, finely chopped

In a deep, heavy bottomed pan, heat the olive oil and sautee the onions for 2-3 minutes or till translucent

Add the garlic and saute together for another 2 minutes

now add the potatoes and cook for a further 2 minutes

Pour in the broth and throw in a bay leaf. Bring it to a boil and then let simmer for 20 minutes

or till potatoes are soft

then add lettuce

and rocket leaves

and let it cook, covered for a further 10 minutes

remove the bay leaf and then puree

add a dollop of creme fraiche

Give it a final whizz… let it sit to cool for about 1 hour before placing it in the fridge. It will need

2-3 hours of chilling.

Love,

Bethx

Tags: french, lettuce, mediterranean, soup, summer recipe, veloute, vichyssoise