![Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Soup](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/02/23/multimedia/as-roasted-cauliflower-soup-bflj/as-roasted-cauliflower-soup-bflj-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Provençal Greens Soup
![Provençal Greens Soup](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/01/02/dining/mrs-provencal-greens-soup/mrs-provencal-greens-soup-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- About 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2leeks, cut in half lengthwise, sliced, rinsed of dirt and drained on paper towels
- 4garlic cloves, sliced
- Kosher salt
- 6cups chopped greens (leaves only), such as Swiss chard, dandelion greens, watercress and beet greens
- Black pepper, to taste
- 2large eggs
- 4thick slices country bread, toasted and rubbed with a cut clove of garlic
- Grated Parmesan, for serving (optional)
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat, and add the leeks. Cook, stirring, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ½ teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the greens, and stir until they begin to wilt. Add 1½ quarts water (6 cups) and salt to taste, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 15 to 20 minutes, until the greens are very tender and the broth sweet. Add pepper, and taste and adjust seasoning.
- Step 2
Beat the eggs in a bowl. Making sure that the soup is not boiling, whisk a ladle of it into the beaten eggs. Take the soup off the heat, and stir in the tempered eggs. Brush the garlic croutons with olive oil, and place one or two in each bowl. Ladle in the soup, sprinkle on some Parmesan if desired and serve.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
if you would like to build a bit more cheese flavor throw in a parmesan rind while cooking the garlic and wilting the greens. remove it when you think it has added the amount of flavor you desire.
I signed up just so I could rate this soup. The flavour is phenomenal! I've been making this soup all winter, and it's turned into one of my very favourites. I use a combination of swiss chard and beet greens and I probably add more than 6 cups. I agree that the lemon juice gives it a nice lift at the end. So delicious!
I found a solution for the eggs on another website. I whisked two tbsp of olive oil into the eggs first, before adding one ladle-full of hot soup into them. Then a second ladle full, before putting them into the pot. Ended up looking just like the picture.
AWESOME. We make it Russian style. Add lemon, sour cream, dill, hard boiled egg chopped up in each bowl. (We omit the cooked eggs you swirl in). You can also serve it cold with those ingredients in the summer. It is a staple in our house.
This dish is astonishingly good. I used all of the tips - replaced 4C of water with a combo if chicken & veggie broth, added a rind of Manchego (did not have Parmesan), cubed and toasted the bread in the oven for 10 mins at 400 and subsequently rubbed with the garlic. While I was able to temper the eggs, they still curdled when added to the soup. Wait at least 10 minutes after removing from the heat, stirring occasionally, for it to cool sufficiently before adding the eggs.
This is delicious. I stopped on my way home for the greens and leeks, around 7 pm, and had this on the table at 8:30. I did use about a cup or so of homemade chicken broth I had in the freezer to augment the water. In my family we like white vinegar on our greens (maybe an Appalachian thing) and so I sprinkled a bit of that on the soup in addition to the Parmesan. I've had it leftover twice, and it just gets better.
To avoid the scrambled egg effect, no tempering needed:
1. Beat the eggs until completely blended.
2. At the same time using both hands: Quickly whisk the hot broth (it must be hot!) while slowly dribbling the eggs into it. As the eggs are whisked into the hot soup they will become thin strands. Look up a photo of Egg Drop Soup and you'll be able to see what this should look like.
3. When done let the soup stand for a few seconds to finish cooking the eggs.
Voilà! No scrambled eggs. : )
OMIT THE EGGS: Tossing in a parmesan rind adds a wonderful depth to the broth, but the eggs completely dull the flavor created by the rind - I will definitely omit the eggs next time and perhaps substitute with cannelloni beans if I want more protein. I used 1/2 water 1/2 chicken broth and added fresh arugula to each bowl before ladling in the soup and topped with grated parmesan and lemon. Wonderful, quick and easy soup.
Mildly passable as edible sustenance. If you read this recipe and think ‘that sounds like boiled salad’ then follow your instincts.
I didn't understand why this soup was rated so highly, until I read the comments where everyone was not following the recipe. Of course stock would make this better. Of course adding a parmesan rind would add flavor. As is, I thought the soup was bland and would have rather used the greens for a salad.
Wonderful and easy! Made it twice so far. I used ruby chard which made the broth a gorgeous red color. I cooked a piece of bacon (chopped up) with the leeks and used half chicken broth. That little hit of smokiness was wonderful. Oh and a good pinch of red chili flakes!
I did temper the eggs, extra carefully the second time, but both times the eggs just scrambled when added back to the pot. Tasted great but doesn't look very nice. Not sure if this is normal.
I agree that this was delicious, and even better the next day. I appreciate the suggestions to add lemon and to use a parmesan rind (didn't feel like spending the money on a fresh chunk when I had so many rinds in the freezer).
Trader Joe’s sells a pre-packaged “southern greens” mix that is perfect for this soup, and the greens are hearty enough to keep in the freezer so you can make the soup any time. I like to eat it over a poached egg; the swirled in eggs looked weird in the fridge leftover and this way you can easily add an egg whenever you reheat it.
This is a delicious and nutritious soup. I was skeptical when it was made without any added broth and only water, but it is spot-on delicious. After tasting it I did think that the advice of others to add a touch of lemon juice might be right. I added a squirt of meyer lemon juice to my bowl and it is good. The parmesan cheese is the finishing touch that ups the flavor. It's February as I write this and I feel as though I'm eating a taste of spring.
I cooked this with chicken broth and loved it!
To temper the egg and make sure it doesn’t curdle just take about 1.5 cups of the broth and set aside for 10 minutes. Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl and then pour the eggs in. Should be good to just add back into the broth from there. Also echoing the other comment, use the Parmesan rind for some extra flavor. In the last 5 minutes of the both cooking I also added in a splash of sherry.
My leeks didn’t get tender. Had to immersion blend it. Maybe I didn’t add 1/3 to the ingredients exactly right, but it came out a bit bland. Wondering about lemon juice.
This was absolutely knock-out delicious but you will need to do something more with the broth than just water. I used 4 cups broth and 2 cups water but added miso paste and more salt than the recipe calls for. A squeeze of lemon and grated parmesan at the end was delicious. I did add the eggs but followed one reviewer's suggestion to temper them with some olive oil first and it worked, voila! No scrambled eggs. I used chard and beet greens from my CSA box. Yum yum yum.
One of those magical recipes where the final product is so much better than the sum of its parts! Definitely needs a squeeze of lemon. Took the advice of one commenter and whisked some olive oil into the eggs before tempering. That worked really well.
I had a garden full of beets greens and swiss chard so this recipe popped out for me. WOW. I did do as suggested in the notes - added a small parmesan rind, 1/2 chicken broth & 1/2 water, with a splash of lemon at the end. My meat loving partner loved it. I will definitely make this again.
Followed the advice to whisk the eggs with a little olive oil before tempering them with a ladle of soup. The soup absolutely can’t be boiling or even too hot - just warm and the consistency will look like the photo. Even after the eggs are successfully emulsified into the soup, you absolutely can’t bring the soup back to boiling in order to prevent the eggs from forming stringy blobs.
Don’t skip the parm rind. A squeeze of lemon at the end is nice (possibly essential). Use chicken stock over water and deglaze the pan with some white wine. Extra garlic doesn’t hurt, either. Delicious and wonderful and healthful when you’re sick!
I successfully tempered the eggs but then when I reheated the soup the next day, it curdled. Basically impossible to avoid curdling unless you want to eat this soup luke warm. Will not be making this again.
Soup of the evening, beautiful soup. This is a lovely addition to a 10 day green soup challenge for January, done in lieu of the green smoothies of summer. A departure from the cabbage and kale. Even without bread and parm, it is delightful.
Read what others said and added lemon juice, white wine, and herbs de Provence at the end. I also included about a tablespoon of miso paste, stirring in to the first ladleful of hot soup which I used to temper the eggs. Also more generous with the garlic, salt, and pepper than recipe stated. With these additions it was lovely, without it would have been a bit too bland as others stated.
Simple, easy, nutritious, and delicious. "Salt to taste" can be an intimidating instruction if you don't make a lot of soups from scratch. The rule of thumb I use is: 1 teaspoon kosher salt per quart of water and adjust from there. For this soup, I added the 1/2 teaspoon salt with the garlic then another teaspoon with the 6 cups water.
A beautiful soup and it's easy to personalize. I used 6c chicken broth, added a can of white beans for protein, added chili flakes and a splash of Meyer lemon. There's enough for another dinner and it will easily extend. Loved it.
Lacking in flavor. Agree with our reviews that this taste like boiled salad.
I can't believe this got so many high ratings. Made as described, it's dishwater. Really needs chicken stock as well as the parm rind. And lemon. For those having trouble incorporating the eggs, try beating the eggs with lemon juice before tempering.
The garlic bread is essential. Adding a parmesan rind deeply improves this soup as does using a stock or broth as a base in some regard. Wish it was included in the main recipe, but it's a good starter recipe.
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