Potato and finely shredded collard-green soup finished with sliced chouriço and olive oil, eaten with broa on the side; it comes from the Minho.

Caldo verde originated in the Minho province of northern Portugal and was based on an earlier recipe that English merchants brought to Portugal. The traditional base is julienned couve galega, a collard-green cultivar, with potatoes, olive oil, onion and garlic, and the chouriço is boiled whole with the potatoes, then sliced and added at serving. It is eaten with broa, a cornbread or rye bread, for dipping, and on the night of São João it is one of the dishes Porto eats beside grilled sardines.

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Make it at home

Serves 650 minEasy

Ingredients

  • 750g floury potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 1 large onion, roughly chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 60ml extra virgin olive oil, plus more to finish
  • 1.5L water (or light chicken stock)
  • 1 small bunch couve galega (Portuguese collard greens) or savoy cabbage, deveined and shredded as thinly as possible (target 1mm to 2mm wide)
  • 1 ring smoked chouriço (about 150g), sliced into thin coins
  • Sea salt, black pepper
  • Cornbread (broa de milho), to serve

Method

  1. Soften onion and garlic in olive oil in a heavy pot for 8 minutes until translucent.
  2. Add potatoes and water, bring to a boil, then simmer 20 minutes until the potatoes are completely soft.
  3. While the soup simmers, fry chouriço slices in a dry pan for 2 minutes per side; the smoked fat will render and crisp.
  4. Blend the soup with an immersion blender to a smooth velvet base. Season generously with salt and black pepper. The texture should be thick like cream but pourable.
  5. Stack the couve leaves, roll tightly, and slice as thinly as you possibly can with a sharp knife (1mm to 2mm strands). This is the defining technique of caldo verde.
  6. Bring the blended soup back to a simmer. Stir in the shredded greens and cook just 90 seconds; they should turn bright green and retain bite.
  7. Ladle into deep bowls. Float 2 to 3 chouriço slices on top of each, drizzle a generous thread of raw olive oil.
  8. Serve with thick slices of cornbread for dipping and a small glass of vinho verde.

Editor tip. The greens must be sliced as thinly as possible; this is not a quick chop. A practised Portuguese cook can shred a bunch in under 90 seconds, but if you go thick the soup tastes of boiled cabbage rather than caldo verde.