Sorrel soup
8 05 2008
Sorrel is another of our over-wintered vegetables that’s very useful at this time of year for adding a fresh, tangy taste to our meals, as well as being an excellent source of vitamins A and C. The boys love the taste of the young leaves, so when they’re in the garden they tend to graze sorrel as they play. But the bed the sorrel has been in is due to be put down to carrots, spring onions and onion seedlings so it’s time for the plants to go. I’ve already transplanted the 10 strongest plants to this year’s leaf vegetable beds, so all the rest has to be used or dug in.
And what better way to use some of it up than in sorrel soup. Peel and chop a large onion, a couple of carrots, four to six medium potatoes and a couple of parsnips. Chop a celery stick. Melt a large knob of butter in a large pan, then sweat the vegetables for five minutes. Pour in 1.5 litres of hot vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables soften, then add several large handfuls of sorrel (washed and shredded), and simmer for another five minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then liquidise (or work through a fine sieve if you don’t have a liquidiser or food processor). Return the soup to the pan, stir in 500ml of creme fraiche and gently heat through. Serve with home-made croutons (not necessarily as large as ours). We do eat well…
You’ve just convinced me to grow sorrel. The soup sounds fantastic. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I picked up my first box of veg of the season from my CSA (community supported agriculture) and there’s a bunch of sorrel in it. I’ll give this soup a try. Does it reheat well or is it only good the first night?
It does keep for a second night, although it’s best to leave the creme fraiche out of the portion you’re keeping and only add it when reheating. I keep meaning to try the soup with crispy bacon bits, as I suspect they’d also go well in it, but it’s just too good as it is.
You eat sorrel!! Down here it is a weed and very much a nuisance plant. Goodness me; what the Northern Hemisphere does to people!
love sorrel - brightens a salad.. makes great soup - and stands all winter as you say. I treat mine as a perrenial, and have a fixed row for all year round.
Although Sorrel is eaten, it is known to be poisonous. The primary toxin is oxalate, however, under certain circumatances nitrates may accumulate to toxic levels. In recorded cases of poisoning, the symptoms were consistent with those of oxalate poisoning. Ref: Cooper and Johnson 1984. Poisonous plants in Britain and their effects on animals and man. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, England.
You may think that your sorrle is fresh, but I bet it isn’t as fresh as the images I found when I google’d for it and found nude images of Nancy Sorrel, a top ranking porn star. I won’t be googling Nancy Sorrel and creme fraiche for fear my monitor would melt!
We have loads of wild sorrel growing in the fields here so don’t cultivate any in the veg patch, as it’d only take up valuable space. I’ve tried Richard Mabey’s great recipe for foraged sorrel soup but will give yours a try as your stock’s richer, although I’ll put in a little less of the sorrel as the wild stuff is pretty powerful & serve it with a loaf of my fresh-baked barleycorn bread & homemade butter & creme fraiche. Can’t wait - the hunger pangs have started, already…..!
Incidentally have you considered getting a couple of goats, Stoney? Extra meat, & all that milk for cream, cheese, butter, ice cream, creme fraiche (the list goes on….)? Learn how to knit your own toilet rolls & at this rate you’ll never need to go shopping again….!