Categories: North America, Recipes

Recipes From Afar: Portuguese Kale Soup, Cape Cod

homemade portuguese kale soup

For many summers, Cape Cod was a favorite go-to escape, a long weekend with local friends for which we were always in for lots of boating, clamming, lobstering, swimming, and, of course, eating. (As we’ve previously admitted, however, we are pretty bad about working when we’re in this area.) One New Year’s, we finally made a winter trip to the Cape, and it was gorgeous: a long-overdue visit marked by snowy conservation lands and starkly beautiful shores, transformed by snowdrifts and the absence of tourists. Of course, we spent a lot of time indoors, and when we weren’t in front of the fireplace, we were in the kitchen.

caldo verde lisbon

Caldo verde, in Lisbon

Of the many meals we shared that weekend, the one that greeted us when we first stumbled in from our long road trip stood out for being the most quintessential to Cape Cod (our friends know us well). Portuguese kale soup—also called Portuguese greens soup, or caldo verde—traveled to this part of Massachusetts via the Portuguese fishermen who settled here seeking fishing/whaling jobs in the late 19th century. In communities with a still-sizable Portuguese community today, like Fall River and Provincetown, this soup is as easy to find as New England clam chowder. But while we’ve ordered it at cafes and restaurants on the Cape from Falmouth to Wellfleet, we’d never before had it homecooked—nor in the winter, when it’s at its most satisfying.

Wellfleet, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, during winter

Wintry Wellfleet, Cape Cod

Our friends used the recipe from the classic cookbook Joy of Cooking, which traces the dish’s lineage from Minha, Portugual, to Cape Cod. We showed up just in time to enjoy it with a loaf of bread we picked up in Fall River, Massachusetts, at one of that town’s many terrific Portuguese bakeries. It was a perfectly hearty, restorative soup on a bracing winter’s day.
 

homemade portuguese kale soup

Portuguese Kale Soup recipe

Adapted from Joy of Cooking (Irma Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker)
Makes about 10 cups

1 1/2 Tbsp olive or other vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 cups water, or a mix of water and chicken/veg stock

4 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

salt and pepper

6 oz Portuguese linguiça or chouriço sausage, or Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced

4 cups chopped or shredded kale (or another green, like Swiss chard or collards)

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Heat oil in a large soup pot, over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring, until tender but not browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the water or stock, potatoes, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat. Using a potato masher, lightly mash the potatoes in the pot, to give the soup a chunky texture.

In another skillet, over medium-high heat, cook the sausage (add a little more vegetable oil, if you wish), stirring, until browned. Add the meat to the soup pot. Pour a small amount of the soup into the skillet, scrape up any browned bits, and return the liquid and browned bits to the soup. Simmer for 5 minutes, then stir in the kale, and simmer another few minutes. Add the lemon juice, then ladle into bowls. We enjoyed ours with crushed red pepper and Portuguese bread.

Published On: January 2, 2013

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