The hearty Spanish soup Caldo Gallego “is tailor-made for the dark days of
winter,” said Sofia Perez in Saveur. The name translates simply as “Galician
soup.” My parents grew up in Galicia, a cold, mountainous region in the north of Spain. After moving to the United States, my mother created this version through trial and error. Cooking the soup in New York “made the big city seem less cold and foreign,” and warmed both body and soul. The soup’s distinctive green hue derives from the broccoli rabe, though kale can be substituted.
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Recipe of the week
Caldo Gallego
2 cups dried cannellini beans
5 large russet potatoes (about 3-1/2 lbs), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 semi-fresh Spanish chorizos (about 1/2 lb)
1 large bunch broccoli rabe (about 2 lbs), trimmed and cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces
Half chicken, (about 1-3/4 lbs), bone-in, skin-on
1 fresh pig’s foot
1-1/2-lb piece fresh pork belly
1-1/2-lb piece boneless veal shoulder
3/4-lb piece smoked ham
Salt
Put beans into large bowl and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let soak at room temperature overnight.
Drain beans, rinse well. Transfer to large pot and add 1 quart cold water, bring to boil. Skim off and discard any foam that rises to surface. Add 2 cups cold water, return to boil. Add 2 more cups cold water, bring to boil once more. Add potatoes, chorizo, broccoli rabe, chicken, pork, veal, ham, and pig’s foot, along with 3 quarts water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-high, and boil, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, stirring and breaking up potatoes with spoon as they soften, until meat is very tender and potatoes
have thickened soup, about 4 hours more. Remove all meat, discard everything except chorizo; slice chorizo into 1-inch rounds. Fish out any bones that remain in soup and discard. Add sliced chorizo to soup. Season with salt to taste. Serve with piece of crusty bread, if you like. Serves 10.
