Sensational Sorrel Soup

Recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook and husband tested in Alice's kitchen

6 Servings

You are going to love this deliciously creamy soup! Serve it as a starter for an elegant dinner with friends or with a crisp salad for a fancy lunch. We are so lucky to have locally grown fresh sorrel now in the produce section at Lost River Market & Deli and at the Orange County HomeGrown Farmers Market. Sorrel cooks up like spinach, but it has a lovely mild lemony flavor. Sorrel also makes a great sauce for fish. Try it with Pecan Crusted Salmon with Sorrel Cream Sauce. (Recipe on this blog.) Read more about sorrel at the end of this recipe.

½ pound (2 sticks) sweet unsalted butter
2 large yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced
4 large cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
10 cups tightly packed fresh sorrel leaves, washed and stems removed
4 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth
¾ cup chopped Italian parsley
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 cup dairy sour cream (optional garnish)
snipped fresh chives (optional garnish)

Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add onions and garlic and cook, covered, over medium heat until tender and lightly colored, about 15 minutes.
Add the sorrel, cover, and cook until it is completely wilted, about 5 minutes.
Add stock, parsley, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 50 minutes.
Puree until smooth with a blender or food processor. (I use a hand blender.)
Taste and correct seasonings.
If serving soup cold, refrigerate for at least 4 hours. (We prefer it hot, but it would be good chilled on a warm and sunny spring day.)
Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with sour cream and chives before serving.

**Sorrel, a hardy perennial herb, with its peak season in the spring, has leaves are shaped much like those of spinach and range from pale to dark green in color and from 2 to 12 inches in length. Locally grown fresh sorrel is now available in the produce section at Lost River Market & Deli and at the Orange County HomeGrown Farmers Market. It should be chosen for its bright green, crisp leaves. Sorrel with woody-looking stems or leaves that are yellow or wilted should be avoided. Refrigerate fresh sorrel in a plastic bag for up to 3 days.In the spring, when at its youngest and mildest, sorrel is used in salads or cooked as a vegetable. It's high in vitamin A and contains some calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and vitamin C.