Parsley Soup Recipes

PARSLEY SOUP

Steps:

• 1. Heat evoo in a medium pot over medium-high heat Add leeks and sauté for about 5 minutes until they soften. 2. Add garlic and parsnips and cook another 5 minutes. Add parsley, wine, and water and simmer, covered, until parsley is wilted. 3. Puree soup in a blender, or with an immersion blender, until smooth. If desired, pour through a fine-mesh sieve into cleaned saucepan, pressing hard on solids, then discarding them. Reheat if necessary.

HOW TO MAKE PARSLEY SOUP

Steps:

• Boil a large saucepan of water. Fill a 6 quart (6 L) saucepan approximately ¾ full with cold water, and place it on the stove. Set the heat to high, and allow the water to come to a full boil. The pot will boil more quickly if you place a lid on it.
• Cook the parsley for 1 minute. Once the water is boiling, place 1 pound (450 g) of fresh parsley in the pan. Allow the parsley to cook until the leaves become bright green and wilted. That should take approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute. Keep a careful eye on the parsley so you know when it's done. If you cook it too long, you may dilute some of its flavor.
• Drain the parsley and set it in cold water. When the parsley is finished cooking, transfer it immediately to a colander to drain it. Next, place it in a bowl of ice cold water. Let it sit for approximately 1 minute to stop the cooking process. Drain it in the colander a final time to remove the water. While you're draining the cold water from the parsley, it's a good idea to give the leaves a squeeze with a towel or spin them in a salad spinner to ensure that you get rid of any excess moisture.
• Chop the parsley. When the parsley is dry, gather all of the leaves in a pile. Use a sharp knife to give them a rough chop. Be careful not to press on the parsley too hard with the knife or you may bruise the leaves. There's no need to remove the stems from the parsley. The stems actually have a nice, sharp flavor that works well in the soup, and because it's eventually pureed, the stems won't ruin the texture of the soup either.

PARSLEY SOUP

Steps:

• Soften the onion, garlic, coriander, chili pepper and ginger root in the butter over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and cook for 1 minute. Add 4 bunches of the parsley, stems intact, and toss to wilt, about 2 minutes.
• Add the chicken broth and simmer for 40 minutes. Add the milk, salt and black pepper and simmer for 5 minutes more. Pass this mixture first through a food processor to make a paste, and then through a food mill, to remove the fibrous parts of the parsley stems. Cool. Stir in the buttermilk, bread crumbs and all but one tablespoon of the almonds and adjust seasoning.
• Pick the leaves from the remaining bunch of parsley and mince them well. Add to the soup. Serve the soup hot or cold, garnished with the parsley zest (recipe below) and, if you desire, a splash of parsley oil.

PARSLEY SOUP

Steps:

• Chop leek and wash in a bowl of cold water, agitating it, then lift out and pat dry.
• Cook parsley stems and leek in oil in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini and salt and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and water and simmer, covered, until zucchini is very tender, about 10 minutes.
• Purée mixture in a blender with parsley leaves until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Season with salt and pepper. If desired, pour through a fine-mesh sieve into cleaned saucepan, pressing hard on solids, then discarding them. Reheat if necessary.

CHICKEN SOUP FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Place the chicken, celery, carrots, onions, parsnip (if using), parsley, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt in a large soup pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to very low. Adjust the heat until the soup is "smiling": barely moving on the surface, with an occasional bubble breaking through. Cook uncovered, until the chicken is very tender and falling off the bone, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• When cool enough to handle, use tongs to transfer chicken from the pot to a container. Taste the broth and continue to simmer it until it is concentrated and tasty. Strain broth through a fine sieve (or a colander lined with cheesecloth) into a separate container. Discard all the solids from the strainer (or reserve the vegetables, chill and serve with vinaigrette, if you wish).
• Refrigerate chicken pieces and broth separately for at least 8 hours (or up to 3 days), until a thick layer of yellow fat has risen to the top of the broth.
• When ready to finish the soup, use your fingers to separate chicken breast meat from bones and skin. Discard bones and skin. Use two forks to pull the breast meat apart into soft chunks, or use a knife and cut into bite-size pieces. (Reserve dark meat for another use.)
• Skim chicken fat from top of broth and set aside. Place 3 tablespoons of the fat in a soup pot with a lid. Add leeks, stir to coat, and heat over medium heat until leeks begin to fry. Then reduce the heat to a gentle sizzle and cook, stirring often, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
• Add carrots, sprinkle with salt, stir, and cover the pot. Cook until vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes more. (Keep in mind that vegetables will continue to cook in the soup.) Do not brown.
• Pour broth into pot with vegetables and heat to a simmer. Add noodles and simmer until heated through, soft and plumped with chicken broth. Add the breast meat, then taste broth and add salt and pepper to taste. For best flavor, soup should have some golden droplets of fat on top; if needed, add more chicken fat one teaspoon at a time.
• Serve immediately, in a tureen or from the pot, sprinkling each serving with herbs.