Caldo Verde (Portuguese Greens and Chouriço Soup)

Method

1. 1Stack the greens, roll them into a tight cigar and slice across as thinly as you can, into threads one or two millimetres wide. This cut is what makes the soup caldo verde rather than cabbage soup.
2. 2Soften the chopped onion and garlic in half the olive oil over medium heat for five minutes without letting them colour.
3. 3Add the peeled potatoes in rough chunks, the water, the salt and the whole piece of chouriço. Simmer for 20 minutes until the potatoes fall apart at the touch of a spoon.
4. 4Lift out the chouriço, cut it into thin rounds and set them aside.
5. 5Blend the soup until completely smooth. It should be a thick pale green cream — no lumps of potato, nothing to chew.
6. 6Bring it back to a boil, drop in the shredded greens and cook for five minutes with the pot uncovered so they keep their colour.
7. 7Take the pot off the heat, stir in the rest of the olive oil and the pepper, and serve with the chouriço rounds on top and cornbread alongside.