When I married into a Portuguese family, I fell in love with Sopa de Couves. It's a simple, everyday Portuguese Kale Soup made with potatoes, linguiça and a flat-leaf kale. My mother-in-law always used to have a big pot of Couves waiting for us every time we visited. But now, she's 98-years old and doesn't cook anymore. We tried several times over the years to get her to teach me how to make Sopa de Couves because it's one of those recipes you learn from watching, as opposed to reading a recipe. The problem is, we don't live in the same state, and once when we told her we wanted to come out and videotape her while she made it, we got there only to discover it was already made! Still, it's important to me that we carry on the tradition. So, in this video, I ask my brother-in-law to teach me how he makes it. He doesn't make it quite like my mother-in-law, but I really enjoyed his version, too. Read on for Lou's recipe.
Sopa de Couves
1 large bunch flat-leaf kale or Swiss chard (cut into 1" pieces)
1 13oz. package linguiça, cut into bite-size pieces
1 1/2 lbs. pork meat, cut in large pieces
5-7 russet potatoes, peeled and cut in half or quarters
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 cup ketchup (or substitute half a small can tomato paste)
kosher salt to taste (approx. 1 tsp.)
1 tsp. crushed black pepper
1/2 tsp. whole black peppercorn
Fill medium size saucepan with water to halfway point and place on stove over medium high heat. Season pork meat with salt and place in saucepan to cook. Once it reaches a rolling boiling, lower heat and let simmer 20-25 minutes.
When that time is almost up, fill a separate, larger saucepan with water to about the halfway point. Add chopped kale and linguiça to it. Carefully transfer the cooked pork meat from other pot into the larger pot with the kale. Add potatoes. Season with salt, crushed pepper, and whole peppercorn. Stir and let cook with lid on 45 minutes. When almost done cooking, add red wine vinegar and ketchup. Stir and taste broth for salt and adjust if necessary. At end of 45 minutes, turn off heat and let soup sit at least 15 minutes before serving.
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All music in this video used with rights from Storyblocks:
"Waste of Time" - Sounds Like Sander
"Tropical Dream" - Neil Cross