Caldo Verde

Ingredients

• 1 big bunch kale or collards, stemmed and sliced into thin ribbons
• 1½ lb potatoes, peeled and chunked
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• ¼ cup olive oil, plus more to finish
• 6 cups water or stock
• 4 oz chorizo, sliced into coins (optional)
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Soften the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a soup pot, 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and water with 1½ teaspoons salt and simmer until the potatoes collapse when pressed, 15 minutes.
2. If using chorizo, crisp the coins in a dry skillet meanwhile — you want the coins AND the brick-red oil they release.
3. Mash or blend the soup right in the pot until mostly smooth but a little rustic. The potatoes make it silky without a drop of cream.
4. Stir in the kale ribbons and simmer just 3–4 minutes — bright green and tender, not army green and defeated.
5. Season, ladle into bowls, and top with the chorizo and its oil (or a confident pour of olive oil for the meatless route). Bread on the side is not optional in Portugal.