Crème de la crème
A CREAM soup is Spain's most popular first course and ideal for this raining weather.
It is often made with the leftover vegetables from lunch, and served as a first course in the evening - before fish. A blender quickly purees some of the vegetables, which also eliminates the need for a calorierich roux.
However, roux not only has the task of thickening a soup, it also gives it a certain velvety texture. If a liaison of egg yolk and cream is stirred in the cup beforehand - one egg yolk and a tenth of a litre of cream are enough for one litre of soup - it gives the soup not only the necessary binding but also a pleasant colour and gentle flavour. However, the soup must not be brought to the boil again, otherwise the egg yolk may curdle and the soup will not look so nice.
Cream of peas with green asparagus and peppers
Serves 4: 1 kg fresh peas, 300 g peeled, diced potatoes, 8 spears green asparagus, 1 red pepper (nicely cut into slices), 8 tbsp liquid cream, 4 mint leaves, olive oil and salt.
Cook the peas and potatoes with a dash of olive oil in two litres of boiling water for 15 minutes. Blend with a hand blender and pass through a sieve to obtain a smooth mixture. Blend with four tablespoons of cream to make the soup creamy.
Blanch the pepper slices and just the tips of the asparagus in boiling water. Pour the soup into plates, make a spiral pattern with the remaining cream and add the peppers and asparagus. Serve garnished with mint leaves.
Cream of pea soup with oyster mushrooms
Fresh peas, king oyster mushrooms (setas de cardo), shallots, crème fraîche, oil and butter, chicken stock, garlic, salt, celery salt, white pepper, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, fresh mint.
Sauté finely chopped shallots in butter until soft. Add fresh peas, pour on crème fraîche and chicken stock and cook. Puree the peas, season with salt, celery salt and pepper.
Cut the mushrooms, freed from the stalk, into narrow strips and fry them with a crushed garlic clove in a mixture of butter and oil.
Bring the soup to the boil, season with lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Divide onto plates, garnish with the mushroom strips. Add a few mint leaves as decoration.
Potato and leek cream with morcilla
Serves 4: 250 g potatoes, 1 onion, 1 leek, olive oil, chicken stock, cream, salt, pepper;
100 g cooked lentils, 1/2 morcilla (Spanish black sausage), 4 large anchovy fillets in oil, chives.
Chop the onion, slice the leek and chop the potatoes. Sauté the onions and leeks in the oil for about five minutes. Add the potatoes and fry briefly.
Deglaze with hot stock, depending on the desired consistency. Not too much at first, you can dilute it later. Simmer for ten to 15 minutes. Whip the cream until stiff.
Puree the soup with a hand blender. Pour through a sieve into another pot and bring to the boil. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
For the garnish, cut the chives into small rolls and add to the lentils. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season again.
Fry the morcilla in a nonstick pan in a little oil for three to four minutes on all sides. Cut into pieces and place on top of the lentils. Place the anchovy fillets next to it.
Fold the cream into the potato cream, fill into cups, drizzle with a little oil. Place the cup next to the lentils.
Chickpea cream
Serves 4: 400 g cooked chickpeas (garbanzos, jar or soaked and cooked), 100 g ripe ham, 2 ripe tomatoes, 1 carrot, the white of the leek, 1 stalk of celery, 1 clove of garlic, 1 bay leaf, 1 sprig of rosemary, 1 meat stock cube (dissolved in 1 1/4 l hot water or fresh meat stock), salt, pepper, olive oil.
Fry the chopped garlic and rosemary in a little oil. Add the finely chopped vegetables and the bay leaf and sweat everything on a very low flame for about ten minutes.
Add the chickpeas, hot meat stock and simmer for another ten minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove the rosemary sprig and bay leaf and purée the chickpeas. To get a fine cream, press the puree through a pointed sieve.
Fry the diced ham until crispy and spread over the chickpea cream.
Tip: You could also replace the ham with fresh cooked mussels. In this case, however, use the mussel water instead of the meat stock.
Mussel soup with vegetables and garlic mayonnaise
1 kg mussels, 140 g shallots, 60 g celery and a few celery leaves, 6 tbsp olive oil, 1 clove of garlic, 2 parsley stalks, 2 sprigs of thyme, 100 ml white wine, 100 ml dry vermouth or sherry, 80 g diced fennel, 150 g cherry tomatoes, 80 g each courgette and aubergine, 1/4 tsp saffron threads, 1 cl dry aniseed, 300 ml cream, lemon.
For the mayonnaise: 2 egg yolks, Dijon mustard, salt, sugar, cayenne pepper, 2 cloves of garlic, 60 ml olive oil.
Sauté half the diced shallots, celery and garlic in olive oil. Add the cleaned mussels, celery leaves, parsley and a sprig of thyme, pour in the white wine and vermouth, and stir once. Put the lid on and grasp both handles firmly with a towel over the lid, so that the pot stays tightly closed. Swing it forward two or three times so that the mussels cook evenly. When they have opened, remove two thirds; pour the stock through a sieve.
Mix the egg yolks, mustard and garlic. Whisk in the oil in a thin stream. Season the mayonnaise with salt, sugar and cayenne.
Sauté the fennel, half of the cherry tomatoes and saffron in oil, deglaze with the aniseed, add the mussel stock and simmer for about five minutes.
Pour in the cream and continue to cook over a low heat. Puree the soup to a fine consistency, mix with the garlic mayonnaise and season with
salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and aniseed.
Slice the aubergines and courgettes, cut the remaining shallots into eighths. Fry the vegetables in oil. Add to the soup together with the mussels, the mussels in their shells, the remaining tomatoes and thyme, stir, season again if necessary and serve.
Cauliflower cream with beer and lemon
Serves 4: 1 medium cauliflower, 1 large potato, 1 large onion, 1 small 33cl bottle of beer, 1/2 l chicken stock, 1 lemon, some lemon zest, olive oil, salt, chopped rocket as garnish.
Cut the cauliflower into large florets, removing the stalk. Cook in salted water until tender.
In the meantime, peel and chop the onion and potato, sauté with a dash of olive oil and a little salt in a large saucepan over a low heat.
When the cauliflower is soft, add it to the pot and cook over medium heat until browned in places. Deglaze with beer.
Now add the stock and simmer everything together for about ten minutes. Puree; add some lemon juice and a little lemon zest if desired, mix and season with salt.
Serve sprinkled with chopped rocket.
Fine bean cream soup with bacon
Serves 4: 400 g small white beans, a little bicarbonate of soda, vegetable stock, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 finely chopped shallot, 150 g good bacon, a little white wine, 3 to 4 medium-sized prawns per person, 4 tbsp cream, chopped chives.
Soak the beans overnight with a little soda. The next day, rinse the beans and cook, well covered with vegetable stock, over a medium heat until tender.
In another pot, fry the shallot and bacon in olive oil, deglaze with a little white wine.
In the meantime, mash the beans with the chicken stock to a soft cream, start with a little stock, and make sure the cream has the right consistency.
Now add the beans to the bacon and shallots and cook the prawns in it. Finally, add the cream to make the soup even creamier. Season to taste with salt. Serve sprinkled with chopped chives.
Carrot cream with herb croutons
Serves 4: 2 onions, 500 g carrots, 50 g butter, 1 tbsp flour, 80 ml vegetable stock, salt, pepper, nutmeg, 4 slices of bread, 3 tbsp parsley, 50 g grated cheese such as Gruyère or Manchego.
Cut the onions and carrots into pieces. Sauté in half the butter. Sprinkle flour on top, deglaze with stock and let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes. Then puree with a hand blender and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
For the croutons, cut the bread into cubes. Fry in the remaining butter until golden brown. Mix with the parsley.
Serve the soup in plates or bowls, grate the cheese over the top and serve with the parsley croutons.
Spicy lime cream cheese with prawns
Serves 4: 1 1/2 limes (juice and zest), 300 ml stock, 100 g Philadelphia cream cheese, 8 large prawns, 1 tsp chilli (crushed), 1 tbsp oil
Peel some lime zest from the limes. Squeeze the limes.
Bring the stock to the boil, mix with cream cheese and 3/4 of the lemon juice. Add the lemon zest. Simmer for a few minutes. Season to taste with salt.
Season the prawns with salt and chilli. Fry in oil over medium heat for three minutes. Add the frying fat to the soup. Season with the remaining limejuice and salt.
Place the prawns in warmed soup bowls and pour the cream around them.