Watercress Soup

Uploaded by Drimble Wedge

I really like this soup. It looks so green and takes only 15 minutes, and during the summertime it's dirt cheap to make. And it's really filling. You can have it hot or cold, I prefer this one hot. Watercress has a unique peppery taste. The dish looks like you've put more effort into it than you had. This makes a little over 1.5 litres, so enough for 4 big helpings.

You'll need:

• frying pan with a lid
• blender

• knob of butter
• 1 onion
• 3 good quality vegetable stock cubes
• a couple of bandfuls of waxy potatoes (charlottes five good results)
• 150-200g fresh watercress
• 10ml or so of single cream (optional). I think Americans call this half and half.

• crusty roll or french stick buttered, to accompany.

If your stock cubes are 1 cube per pint, put 3 in and make up to one pint boiling water and set aside.

Steam or boil your potatoes until tender, but not falling apart. I did mine with the skins on, in a steamer. Take out of the steamer or pan or whatever and set aside. Melt the butter in the pan, and sweat the onion in it on a low heat, but don't burn it. When it starts getting tender, put the watercress on top of the onion, give it a little stir if you can, stick the lid on for maybe 2 minutes.

Cut the potatoes to a size the blender will easily process. Add a few chunks, add some stock, blend, add a few more etc until all the potatoes are in. Now pour the contents of the (warm but not sizzling hot) frying pan into the blender, set to puree or high for a minute or so, add the remaining stock, blend, then serve. It's quite a thick soup.

I tried to make a whorl with the cream but failed. I think that was because I poured from too high. The soup doesn't need cream as the potatoes provide that texture. Can be had hot or cold, if you do have it cold, maybe it would benefit from some extra-dry vermouth added to it.

Total cost - about £2.50 with the rolls. The spuds I grew, the watercress was about £1.