AI-generated image
Sopa de beldroegas
Purslane and potato soup
Sopa de beldroegas: purslane and potato soup with poached eggs and fresh goat's cheese over bread
Purslane grows wild between the rows of Alentejo vegetable gardens in summer, and country cooks pick it for this lemony, slightly peppery soup: potatoes and purslane simmered with garlic and olive oil, then finished with eggs poached in the broth and slices of fresh goat's cheese that soften in the heat. It is served over bread, as so many Alentejo soups are. The fresh cheese is usually made with animal rennet; choose a soft goat's cheese or ricotta made with vegetarian rennet if you need to. If you can't find purslane, watercress or spinach make a fair stand-in. Chef's tip: add the cheese only in the last minute, so it warms and softens but doesn't melt away.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 14 oz purslanethick stalks removed, or watercress or spinach
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onionchopped
- 4 cloves garlicsliced
- 1 ⅓ lb potatoespeeled, sliced 1 cm thick
- 5 cups water
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- 5 ½ oz fresh soft goat's cheesesliced; vegetarian rennet if needed
- 4 slices day-old country bread
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (5)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Warm ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat and cook 1 onion and 4 cloves garlic for 6–8 minutes until soft and golden.
8 minStep 3: Add 14 oz purslane and simmer for 8–10 minutes more, until the potatoes are tender and the leaves dark and soft. A common mistake is crushing the potatoes: they should stay in slices.
10 minStep 4: Turn the heat down so the soup just trembles. Crack in 4 eggs one by one, cover and poach for 4 minutes until the whites are set. Cook longer for firm yolks if serving anyone vulnerable.
4 minStep 5: Lay 5 ½ oz fresh soft goat's cheese on top, cover and leave for 1 minute until it softens.
1 minStep 6: Put a slice of 4 slices day-old country bread in each deep plate and ladle over the soup, with an egg and some cheese on each.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 430 kcal
- Protein
- 19 g
- Carbs
- 45 g
- Fat
- 20 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does sopa de beldroegas take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 35 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Tiyula itumBlack beef soup
Tiyula itum, 'black soup', is the pride of the Tausug people of Sulu in the far south of the Philippines, cooked for weddings, Eid celebrations and when guests come home. Beef (it is a halal, pork-free dish) is simmered with ginger, lemongrass and turmeric, then darkened with pamapa itum, a paste of grated coconut toasted until almost black and pounded with spices. The broth looks dramatic but tastes smoky, earthy and gently peppery, with heat from chillies. Serve it with plain rice. Chef's tip: toast the coconut slowly, stirring all the time, until it is very dark brown but not ashy; burnt-to-ash coconut tastes bitter and ruins the soup.
Filipino
Ful nabitSprouted fava bean soup
Sprouted beans are ladled out with their cooking liquor in Cairo homes when the weather turns cold or someone is feeling run down, and Egyptians swear by the broth as a pick-me-up. The beans are soaked and left to sprout for a few days, then simmered with onion, garlic and cumin into a light, earthy soup that is sharpened at the table with plenty of lemon. You can eat the beans with a spoon or pop them from their skins. Allow 3 to 4 days for sprouting, although the hands-on work is only about 20 minutes. People with G6PD deficiency (favism) must not eat fava beans. Chef's tip: stop the sprouting when the shoots are about 1 cm long; longer sprouts taste grassy and bitter.
Egyptian
BabboucheSpiced snail broth
After dark in Marrakech's great square, the babbouche stalls are recognisable by their steaming cauldrons and the toothpicks laid out by every bowl. Small land snails simmer in a dark broth of liquorice root, aniseed, thyme, caraway, bitter orange peel, chilli and a bundle of herbs that sellers say has fifteen ingredients, believed to soothe the stomach and warm you on a cold night. You pick the snails out with a toothpick, then drink the peppery, herbal, faintly sweet broth. At home, buy live snails sold for cooking, already purged by a reputable seller, discard any with broken shells or that do not move or retract when touched, and cook them through for at least 45 minutes. Chef's tip: keep the spices in a muslin bag; the broth stays clear and you avoid crunching on seeds.
Moroccan