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Caldo gallego – Galician soup with beans, potatoes and grelos
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Source: https://recipheon.com/en/recipes/soups/caldo-gallego-galician-soup-with-beans-potatoes-and-grelos
About this recipe
Caldo gallego is a Galician soup made with white beans, potatoes and grelos, the young leaves and shoots of turnips. In this simple version, a small piece of unto, traditional Galician salted and aged pork fat, gives the soup its distinctive flavor. The beans should be completely tender, while the roughly snapped potato pieces gently thicken the broth. Briefly blanching the grelos in separate water softens their bitterness while preserving the bold flavor of the greens. This is a leisurely soup, beginning with soaking the beans the evening before; the finished caldo should remain brothy and easy to eat with a spoon.
Ingredients
For 6 servings
200 g dry white beans
600 g potatoes, weight after peeling
500 g fresh grelos, young turnip leaves and shoots, weighed without tough ends or damaged leaves
25 g unto, Galician salted and aged pork fat, in one piece
up to 4 g salt, depending on how salty the unto is
2400 g water for the soup: 1800 g initially and 600 g hot reserve; plus 1500 g for soaking the beans and 2000 g for blanching the grelos, both to be discarded
Steps
The evening before, pick through the beans, rinse them and cover with 1500 g cold water in a suitably large container. Cover and refrigerate for about 12 hours. Leave enough room for the beans to swell.
Drain the soaked beans, discard the soaking water and rinse the beans. Put them in a pot with a capacity of about 5–6 liters, add the piece of unto and 1800 g fresh water. Bring to a boil. Prepare the remaining 600 g water as a hot reserve for topping up during cooking.
Once the water boils, cook uncovered at a full rolling boil for 30 minutes. Then lower the heat, leave the lid slightly ajar and simmer gently for about 40–60 minutes more, until the beans are tender right through. Older beans may need longer. If the liquid level drops, add a little hot reserve water at a time to keep the beans submerged. Stir gently from time to time.
AI-generated While the beans cook, cut the peeled potatoes into pieces about 2–3 cm across. Cut partway into the potato with a knife, then snap off the end of each piece to leave rough edges. This helps the potatoes release a little starch into the soup and gently thicken it.
Rinse the grelos thoroughly. Cut the tender stems into smaller pieces and the leaves into wider strips. In a second pot, bring 2000 g water to a boil without salt. Add the greens, in batches if needed, and blanch each batch for about 2 minutes. Drain and discard the water; do not add it to the soup.
AI-generated Add the potatoes and all the drained grelos to the tender beans. Simmer gently for about 20–25 minutes more, until the potatoes and stems are tender and the broth thickens slightly. Use the remaining hot reserve water as needed to keep the soup brothy. You do not need to pour any unused reserve into the pot.
AI-generated Remove any remaining piece of unto if it has not melted completely, leaving the fat released into the soup in place. Taste the broth and season with salt as needed, using no more than the weighed 4 g. Set any unused salt aside. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and leave the soup to rest for about 10 minutes.
Gently stir the soup and divide it among six deep bowls, giving each some beans, potatoes, grelos and broth. Serve hot without extra ingredients; the tender vegetables should be surrounded by broth, not form a compact mass.
Estimated nutrition
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