No processed egg breath here...

I’ve always been a bit suspicious of the cress family, probably because of its regrettable association with the frankly revolting egg & cress motorway sandwich (I mean seriously, who the f*** eats those!?). When I go about my lunch business therefore, processed egg sandwiches are never high on the agenda; apart from the fact that they look so wrong I’m also deeply paranoid of what they may do to my breath...

Over the years this justified fear has resulted in a lack of enthusiasm for all things 'cress' related; watercress has no doubt suffered, excluded from shopping lists and made to mingle with other types of salad in mixed leaf bags, in its purest state it isn't even that easy to find. Ironically it’s one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by humans, at least according to Wikipedia anyway.

So what to do when you get hold of a big bunch of the stuff? I pushed the eggs to one side and made a soup.

Serves 4:

300g of watercress
A few big handfuls of spinach
1 celeriac (or 3 medium potatoes), peeled an chopped
1 white onion, chopped
25g of butter
500-600ml of stock (chicken or veg)
Double cream
Pancetta

Melt the butter in a deep pan and add the chopped onion, fry gently for a few minutes before adding the peeled and chopped celeriac. Stir well and fry for a further 3 minutes or so.

Pour in the stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the celeriac begins to give. Chuck in the watercress and spinach, stir well and leave for a minute or two.

Take the pan off the heat and blend. The colour will be amazing. Taste and correct the seasoning.

Slice the pancetta into wide lardons and fry in a hot pan with a drizzle of olive oil until crisp. Remove and drain on kitchen towel.

Ladle the soup into bowls, swirl a tbsp of double cream into each one (a dollop of crème fraiche works a treat too!) and position your lardons in the centre. A twist of pepper, some crusty bread and you’re done.

Delicious, filling and bright green! Oh and it goes really well with a glass of Chablis. You can also serve the dish as a mini appetizer by pouring into individual espresso cups, a bit poncy but it works under the right circumstances. And no processed egg breath...

Tweet