Eat Your Greens Soup with Puffed Quinoa and Parmesan Crisps

, from Issue #85. July, 2019
Photography by Josh Griggs.
Eat Your Greens Soup with Puffed Quinoa and Parmesan Crisps

Fill this soup with your own combination of greens – kale, silverbeet, watercress, swiss chard and rocket are other delicious leafy options.

Serves: 4-6

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 brown onion, thinly sliced
1 large leek, white and pale green part thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 litre vegetable stock
2 cups frozen peas
1 large cos lettuce, thinly sliced
2 cups packed baby spinach
¼ cup packed mint leaves
sea salt and ground pepper
To serve
½ cup crème fraîche
small handful pea shoots or fresh mint leaves
Puffed Quinoa and Parmesan Crisps (see recipe below)
Puffed Quinoa and Parmesan Crisps
2½ cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
⅓ cup puffed quinoa
good grind black pepper

METHOD

Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion, leek, garlic, bay leaf and sea salt. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender.

Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Add the peas and lettuce, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in the spinach and mint until wilted. Use a stick blender to make a smooth soup. Season.

To serve: Ladle the soup into bowls and top with a drizzle of crème fraîche and some pea shoots or a few mint leaves. Serve the crisps alongside. 


Puffed Quinoa and Parmesan Crisps: Line a flat baking tray.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake.

Combine the parmesan, puffed quinoa and pepper in a bowl.

Place heaped tablespoons of the mixture spaced well apart on the prepared baking tray. I put 5-6 on the tray. Cook for 7-8 minutes, or until a good golden colour. Cool on the tray before carefully lifting off. Repeat with remaining mixture. Makes 10-12 depending on their size