We received green garlic in our CSA box and I had no idea what to do with it. But I wanted to learn, especially because garlic is known to have lots of health benefits – including an immunity boost to prevent colds and flu. This isn’t a food blog, but nurturing your true nature includes eating well and supporting your health, so I’m sharing this recipe because it turned out so well!
In case you haven’t ever cooked with it, green garlic looks like scallions and the flavor is a mild garlicky flavor with a hint of onion to it (not at all overpowering). In my research, I found green garlic is sometimes swapped for leeks. When you cook with it, the food takes on a pretty light green shade.
In late spring, I still love to eat soup, especially when the weather is rainy or still a bit chilly. I pulled out a recipe for a leek soup that I love and played around with the ingredients to adapt it for green garlic. And it is yummy!
How yummy? My almost 4-year old asked for a second helping at dinner. And when he woke up the next morning, he asked if he could have the “green soup” for breakfast.
What?!
Update: Two years later, more green garlic in our CSA… and my son is still eating this for breakfast! Added photos of soup being cooked (scroll to bottom of post).
Potato Green Garlic Soup
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 cups green garlic, white and green parts, chopped (about 1 1/2 bunches)
- 4-5 potatoes, peeled and chopped into medium-sized cubes (about 5 cups)
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 cup half-and-half (or heavy cream)
Step-by-step instructions:
Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed soup pot using medium heat. Add the green garlic and cook until it is soft, stirring regularly to make sure it does not brown or burn, about 8 minutes.
Add the potatoes, chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil. Once it boils, turn the heat down to low. Simmer the soup for 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are very soft. To check the doneness of the potatoes, you can insert the point of a sharp knife in the potato. If the pierced potato easily falls off from the knife, it is done.
Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Then, puree the soup using a standard blender* or hand-held immersion blender.
*Note: If you use a standard blender, pour a bit of soup into the glass container and swirl it around the container to warm up the glass before pouring more of the mixture inside. Also, do not fill the blender more than halfway. You could blend the soup in two batches if necessary. Once blended, pour it back in the soup pot.
Add the half-and-half (or heavy cream) to the soup pot. Bring the soup to a simmer over low heat. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper. Soup tends to taste better with some salt, so don’t be surprised if you add 1/2 – 1 teaspoon, but start small and add slowly. If you add too much, you can throw a raw peeled potato in the soup and let it simmer and it will absorb some of the salt for you.
The soup will thicken the longer you simmer it. If it is too thick, you can add a little water.
Enjoy!
*I modified this recipe from a Potato Leek Soup recipe I found by Jenn Segal at once upon a chef.
As you can see, the soup has a greenish tinge to it. It’s pretty, actually!