Mussi’s Delicate Chervil Soup

You don’t come across chervil much in Northern Ireland - I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in a shop! But it’s a beautiful herb and I love to grow it. It has an unusual flavour (kind-of aniseedy), but is also surprisingly subtle. This recipe is from Katie, one of my Growing Academy students and regular Laurelbank volunteers. This is a recipe passed down from her Scandinavian grandmother (aka Mussi).

I’m so lucky to be surrounded by fab people willing to share their family recipes and expand my culinary world. I hope Mussi wouldn’t mind the odd substitution I have made to make this soup possible with an April harvest…

A large knob of butter
The whitest parts of 1 large (or 2 medium) sized leeks, cut into fat coins
(You want to keep the soup pale in colour, so Keep the green leek tops for another dish)
3 full stalks of celery, finely chopped (I used an onion instead)
1 medium clove of garlic, crushed
2 large (or 3 medium) potatoes, chopped into chunks
1 courgette, chopped into fat coins (I used a kohrabi instead)
3 tsp nutritional yeast flakes or a veg stock cube (I used homemade chicken stock instead)
2 pints of boiling water
A handful of chopped parsley stalks (optional)
A big bunch of Laurelbank Farm chervil (up to 50g if possible but 30g would be ok), chopped

Method

1) Put a large pan on a low heat. Gently fry the chopped leek & celery (I used onion) in the butter with a little seasoning, sweating them both for a good 10 mins until translucent. Stir regularly and do not let them brown or colour. 

2) Add crushed garlic and sweat for a further 3 minutes

3) Add the potatoes, courgette (I used kohlrabi), parsley stalks, boiling water and stock cubes (or hot stock). Turn up the heat to bring to a gentle simmer.

4) Cook for 10 minutes until potatoes are crushable (timing slightly depends on how big your chunks were)

5) Take off the heat and add the chervil 

6) Blitz until super smooth. Taste and add more seasoning if required.

7) Serve with a blob of yoghurt or cream on top and a little sprig of chervil (This soup is also delicious served ice cold)