Caldo verde, green broth, is a popular dish from Northern Portugal. Just to the North of Portugal is Galicia which is an autonomous community of Spain. They have a similar dish; caldo Gallego, Galician broth. When they say broth, though, they really mean soup, hearty comforting soup. Along with the broth, caldo verde generally includes:
- Aromatics: typically onion or leek and also garlic
- Sausage: typically linguiça
- Root Vegetables: typically potatoes or turnips
- Leafy greens: typically kale or turnip greens
Caldo Gallego generally:
- Swaps the linguiça for Spanish Chorizo
- Adds white beans
I’ve never had linguiça sausage, but I understand it’s a smokey, garlicy pork sausage. What I use for the dish is smoked pork kielbasa. I think it’s a good substitute. I know it tastes great, especially if you use a high quality kielbasa made from pasture raised pigs. Most recipes will use more sausage than I do. I’m not a vegetarian, but I do like vegetable forward dishes. I have made this with potatoes and kale, but I typically make this with turnips and their greens. Turnips make a great two for one, root to leaf option. I’ve also made it with kohlrabi and its leaves. This time, inspired by my CSA 2021, Week 3 delivery, I used radishes and their greens. Also, because radishes have less greens than turnips, I supplemented the greens with baby Asian greens. Turnips and their greens are sweet/spicy. Radishes and their greens are just a bit more spicy, as are most Asian greens. The result was different, but really good.
Photo walk through of the recipe:
Caldo Verde
Ingredients
- Olive Oil
- 8 oz Smoked Kielbasa sliced into rounds
- 1 Medium Onion (6-8 oz) diced
- 2-3 Cloves of Garlic (15 grams) minced
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
- 8 oz Turnip root or Potato chopped, 3/4" chunks
- 6 oz Greens (Turnip, Kale, Chard, etc) roughly chopped
- 1 15 oz can white beans such as cannellini optional
Instructions
- Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and stir in some olive oil. A tablespoon is probably enough. You want to make the sausage and the pot bottom glisten, but you don't want a pool of oil.
- Arrange the sausage slices in a single layer, so one side of the sausage receives direct heat. Do not immediately stir. Allow the one side of the sausage to brown, while the fat in the sausage renders out. You can peek on the progress of a single slice. Expect 4-5 minutes. Optionally, you can stir, flipping the sausages, and brown the other side, but it's not totally necessary.
- Add the onions to the pot along with a pinch of salt (about 1 tsp). Stir. If the onions glisten, then there is enough fat. If they appear dry, add another splash of olive oil. Continue to sauté, stiring frequently, until the onions are soft and translucent. Expect 4-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, stir and sauté for one more minute.
- If a fond (browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot) has developed, start with a good splash of the broth to deglaze the pot, scraping with a wooden spatula.
- Add the remaining stock, roots and greens to the pot. If you are using white beans, add them at this point as well. Turn the heat on high until it boils. Turn down to a simmer and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
2 Responses
I made the Caldo Verde for dinner tonight and it was delicious!!! The cooking directions were spot on and very easy to follow. I used turnips purchased from the farmer’s market and threw in 3/4 cup of cannellini beans that were hanging around my refrigerator. I topped off the soup with a small portion of long grain rice, but it tasted delicious without it, too! I appreciated the simplicity of the recipe and can’t wait to try different variations of it. This recipe is a keeper!
Thanks so much Stacy! I’m glad you enjoyed it!