Nose Twister Soup Anyone?

I bet the title has you all puzzled and wondering what on earth I am talking about?

The other day I was washing up and idly staring out of the kitchen window. I do a lot of idle staring in one way or another, but I multi-task and do a lot of my indepth thinking at the same time! This is my view (actually I went outside to take the photo as the window is rather grundgy and grubby and you have to screw your eyes up to see anything.)

A nasturtium jungle!

And I happened to notice that the nasturtiums that self-planted themselves from the mother plants that I had purposely planted last year, were spreading and were rapidly getting out of control.

So I said to Rob 'I must pull out some of those, they are taking over the garden and there's other stuff underneath them.' Then I said 'It's a pity that you can't do something with them. I wonder if you can make soup out of the leaves!' and he said (all together now…..) 'Google it!'

So I did, and yes you can!

I was amazed!

'The leaves of the Nasturtium can be used in a variety of ways: as a spicy addition to salads, as the base for pesto, or chopped and combined with softened cheeses for spreads. The leaves can be used as beds for chicken salad or fish, and used as garnish atop savory muffins and potato salad. Stuff Nasturtium leaves with rice and herbs for a take on Greek dolmas. Add fresh leaves and blossoms to a vinegar solution, with a clove of garlic and allow to sit for four to five weeks for a peppery, pungent vinegar for salad dressings. Due to the fragility of the leaves and the aroma, Nasturtium leaves and other cresses cannot be dried.' (Thanks to Google)

A healthy crop waiting to be picked for soup! Look at the water drops shining!

Although they are considered a cress due to the similarity of their oil to that of watercress, nasturtiums are in a genus all of their own, namely Tropaeolum. And, of course, the seeds are often pickled and used instead of capers. Real capers are actually the flower buds of the Caper Bush, also known as Flinders Rose. (Isn't Google wonderful.........)

Anyway, back to the soup.

There are several recipes for Nasturtium Soup listed, so I kind of gathered the ingredients from a few and came up with the following recipe:

Melt about 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and gently cook one diced onion until soft but not brown. Add 2 peeled and diced potatoes (not sure of the size) and 30 Nasturtium leaves, (after first removing the stems and any bird poo or odd bugs that happen to be clinging on!) Once the leaves have wilted, about 5 minutes, add 3 cups of chicken stock. Add 1 bay leaf, salt and pepper and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, cool the soup and add a cup (more or less) of cream. Purée until smooth. Heat gently when you want to serve and float a flower on each serving!! (Rob ate his flower......and mine!)

A swirl of cream and a delicately placed flower. 

Now, personally, I think cream is better than milk, but some recipes listed milk and some said cream, so really it's up to you.

And, why did I call this Nose Twister Soup? Because the name 'nasturtium' comes from two Latin words, namely 'nas' (nose) and 'tortum' (twist), so called because of a person's reaction after biting into the peppery, bittersweet leaves!

And the flavour of the soup?

In one word..............

A picture paints a thousand words...............

Delicious!