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Parsley soup

My good friend Ian Bates, Chef/Owner of The Old Spot Restaurant in Wells, Somerset, makes just about the best parsley soup I have tasted. I think mine is pretty good too, but it has certainly benefited from a few enjoyable minutes spent with Ian on the phone discussing the subject.

To ensure both a bright green appearance and a glossy, smooth texture, the trick is to pick the leaves rigorously from the stalks and ensure that the stringier stalks are completely cooked before adding the leaves just before the blending process. If this is successfully achieved, the soup will not require passing through a sieve, a process that can render the finished article thin, pale and weedy. It also helps greatly to chill the soup quickly over an iced water bath so that the beautiful colour is retained.

Serve simply with croûtons, or gratinate under the grill with a baguette slice and some grated Gruyère, to form a crust as on a French onion soup. Parsley is also a great vehicle for meaty morsels such as duck confit, poached ham, chicken wings, oxtail, snails, and so on.

Serves about 8

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

150g unsalted butter

1 large floury potato, peeled and chopped into 1cm dice

6–8 bunches of flat-leaf parsley (you need at least this much!), leaves picked and stalks chopped

1.5 litres of light chicken stock (a stock cube is fine for this) salt and freshly ground black pepper

about 100ml double cream, to taste

Sweat the onion with the garlic in the butter in a pan large enough for all the ingredients. When this has softened, add the potato and all the chopped parsley stalks and continue cooking gently for a couple of minutes. Add the chicken stock – the consistency of the soup will depend on how much stock you add, you may not need it all, but this rather depends on how thick you like your soup. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Skim, then cook gently until the stalks and potato have completely collapsed – this takes about 30 minutes.

Now get organised, with your blender at the ready, together with a container for the liquidised soup, which should ideally be set in an iced water bath to speed up the cooling process. This is not necessary if you are less fussed about the finished colour.

Add all the parsley leaves to the pan and cook for about 30 seconds – no longer. Check the seasoning and chuck the whole lot into the blender, or in batches, depending on the size of your liquidiser. (A hand-held blender is not really acceptable here, as it may lack the necessary welly to blend the whole lot satisfactorily.) Take care when whizzing, as hot soup has a tendency to spit. On no account seal the beaker with the stopper or you may have a messy explosion on your hands. It is also important to thoroughly blend the soup – this can take several minutes per batch.

Reheat the soup in a clean pan – try to avoid boiling it – and add the cream to taste. I actually prefer the cream swirled on top, which reminds me pleasingly of my mum’s 1970s’ cookery books.