Did you happen to catch me on Fox-32’s morning program, “Good Day Chicago,” discussing ways to preserve the strawberry harvest? You will recognize many of the projects I mentioned from last week’s strawberry posts. It was such a fun segment to film and I always love talking about the Chicago Food Swap.
I have one last strawberry recipe to give you. (Really, the last. I am so over strawberries at this point. Bring on the stone fruits!) In the course of working on a new project, I have spent some time lately researching Polish cuisine. June is strawberry season in Poland too. And in addition to strawberry jam and strawberry desserts, a common dish in Poland at this time of year is cold strawberry soup.
This is not a dessert soup, although one could certainly make such a dish. Rather, this cold strawberry soup is a tart and refreshing appetizer for a warm day. In earlier generations, men hot and tired from working in the fields would consume cold fruit soups for lunch to cool themselves. I love this image because one might be tempted to think of a cold fruit soup as dainty and elegant. To the contrary, it was traditionally peasant food!
Today, a cold strawberry soup would be an unusual and elegant way to begin a dinner party or barbecue. The color alone will amaze your guests and they will like the tart berry flavor even more. You could even serve small shooters of soup so your guests would not have to bother with spoons. But, as you will see, this is an easy dish to prepare, and one that should be done in advance so the soup has time to chill, making it ideal for busy weeknights. Make a large batch when you have time and enjoy it all week long.
Although this soup is meant to be tart, a little sweetener helps keep it from being too puckery. Honey would be a very traditional sweetener for any eastern European dish. Granulated sugar would work too. I added an American touch to my Polish fruit soup by sweetening it with maple syrup. I just adore the combination of strawberry and maple and am not overly fond of the distinctive taste of honey despite my Polish roots. Feel free to use your preferred sweetener.
This recipe has the advantage of using up two quarts of strawberries. And because the fruit is pureed, you can use fruit that has begun to go soft. Just be sure to trim any bits that are rotten or spoiled.
- 6 cups sliced and hulled strawberries (from 2 quarts)
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt, preferably full fat
- 2 TB honey, sugar or maple syrup (or to taste)
- 1 TB cornstarch
- Pinch salt
- Sour cream (optional)
- Mint (optional)
- Combine the strawberries and water in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil.
- Turn down the heat and simmer until the strawberries and soft and have begun to lose their color, 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Puree the mixture well using an immersion blender OR transfer to a food processor and puree, working in batches as necessary.
- Stir in yogurt and sweetener. Return soup to stove and place over medium heat
- Dissolve cornstarch in some cold water and slowly pour it into soup, whisking constantly. (This will thicken the soup so it is not too watery.)
- Bring soup to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Boil one minute.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Transfer soup to clean jars or plastic storage containers and refrigerate until chilled.
- To serve, garnish with soup cream and mint, if desired.
[…] me feeling as satisfied as possible when the berries started to disappear. I found this recipe for Cold Strawberry Soup on West of the Loop, and I was […]