Soup made with Lovage

Isn't it great to see the herbs bursting into leaf after their winter hibernation? The prospect of being able to help myself to handfuls of fresh herbs to add their zing to whatever I want to cook is enough to have me riffling through the recipe file for seasonal family favourites,. One of the best recipes for this time of the year is a potato soup flavoured with lovage. There are still plenty of last season's main crop potatoes around and for this, the best ones are the floury varieties, the kinds like Maris Piper that make good mash. But the main reason for making this recipe is that the lovage is now at least knee high in the herb patch, ( it will be 2 metres or more by autumn, if the wind, rain and weight of its leaves haven't made it flop over) and so ready to be picked.

I would grow lovage with its glossy bright green foliage and its yellow umbellifers for its looks alone. But to have it and not make the most of its flavour would be such a waste. The flavour is rather like celery with a mild curry twist. It's quite powerful so although the plant has an abundance of shiny leaves, you need to use them with some restraint until you get to know its strength. Known on the continent as 'the Maggi herb', a teaspoon or two of chopped lovage adds a savoury depth to sauces, casseroles and soup. And soup was what I made the first time I cooked with lovage. It was such a hit with the whole family that it has become a spring favourite ever since.

Soup with Lovage

Ingredients (Serves 3 - 4)

• 1 Onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 25g butter
• 1 tablespoon of chopped lovage
• 25g (or 1 tablespoon) flour 
• 375g 'floury' potatoes peeled and chopped
• 450 ml vegetable or chicken stock
• 250 ml milk
• 1 tablespoon grated parmesan 
•  garnish

To prepare

1. Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel the garlic and crush with a little salt.
2. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and add the onion and garlic. Cook gently, stirring for a few minutes until the onion is translucent but don't let it brown.
3. Add the chopped lovage and stir in. 
4. Sprinkle in the flour and stir still cooking gently for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the chopped potato and stir well.
6. Add the stock. If you have some vegetable or  perhaps you have made some chicken stock from the bones of a roast,  then use it. If not, then 2 teaspoons of Marigold Bouillion powder or a stock cube in water will do very nicely.
7. Let the soup simmer away for 30 minutes and then test to see if the potato is soft. When it is, use your utensil of choice for making mash to crush the potato. If you want a really smooth soup then at this stage blitz briefly with a wand blender or push through a sieve. (Sometimes trying to process the mix in a food processor produces an odd flavour, something to do with the starch.) 
8. Add the milk and the parmesan and heat gently. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
9. Serve in warmed bowls and add the garnish. The soup is creamy with little flecks of green but can look a little pale and uninteresting.  I used thin slices of pointed peppers and snipped chives, but crisped slivers of bacon or chopped parsley would work well too. (Is it me, or do those slices of pepper look like little hearts?)

 If you don't have lovage, you could still make this soup with celery leaves and a half teaspoon of mild curry powder. It won't be the same, oh no, but it will be good.