A few years ago, while in Portugal, I tried a local soup called Caldo Verde, a tasty mix of potatoes, kale and smoked Portuguese sausage. It was delicious so I made a few notes on flavours and textures to remind me to try to replicate it when I returned home. The notes were, unfortunately, lost, and the soup didn’t get made.
On to this month’s seasonal ingredient: spinach. Although available all year round, spinach is in season from March to June. Rich in iron and magnesium, it is also high in vitamin C, vitamin K and fibre. It’s amazing raw, but cooking it for just a few minutes actually trebles its levels of vitamin A, which helps to keep our skin and hair in tip-top condition.
So, looking around for a recipe to make with this nutritional powerhouse I remembered the Portuguese soup I enjoyed on holiday. As I was changing up one of the main ingredients, it made sense to look for an alternative to the smoked sausage also.
Chorizo was my first thought, but after a trip to Villagers, a lovely little sausage shop in Beckenham, my mind was changed. While pressing my nose up against the shop window, trying to decide which of the huge selection of their award winning sausages that I wanted to take home with me, my eyes settled on merguez, a traditional Algerian sausage made with minced lamb, fresh chillies and onions. I just knew they would be perfect for the soup.
As well as merguez, I also bought their linked Cumberland sausages (an old favourite of mine) and some very garlicky Toulouse sausages (a new favourite!). Knowing what I’m like I had purposely only taken a small cool bag with me to limit the amount I would get, but no worries, like most things these days, they’re available to buy online.
Spinach and potato soup with spicy Merguez sausages
Serves 4
2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
300g Merguez sausages
1 large onion, roughly chopped
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
3 fat garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1½ litres vegetable stock
300g potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1cm pieces
200g baby spinach leaves, roughly sliced
To garnish
100g baby tomatoes, roughly chopped
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Cook the sausages gently, turning frequently, for 10-15 minutes, until thoroughly cooked through. Transfer to a plate to cool then slice into bite sized pieces.
Add the onions to the same pan along with the salt, cumin and coriander and sauté until the onions are soft. Add the sliced garlic and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
Pour in the vegetable stock, add the potatoes and bring the mixture to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are just starting to break up.
Add the spinach and sliced merguez to the saucepan and gently stir in. Bring the soup back to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for a further 2-3 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Ladle into warmed soup bowls and top with the chopped tomatoes and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
Follow Beverley Hicks @littlechelseakitchen
