Watercress Soup with Poached Egg

Yield: 2 servings

Watercress Soup with Poached Egg recipe is bursting with fresh, peppery flavour.

Ingredients:

• 30 grams butter
• 1 dozen wild garlic roots or 1 small onion or shallot, finely chopped
• 500 ml fresh vegetable or chicken stock
• 2 good fistfuls of watercress, trimmed and well washed
• 2 tablespoons cooked rice or 2 rice cakes
• freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 eggs, at room temperature a little double cream, to serve
• chopped wild garlic leaves or chives, to garnish
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a large pan over a low heat, add the wild garlic or onion and sweat until soft – do not allow it to colour. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then add the watercress, bring back to the boil and simmer for just a minute. Place in a blender with the cooked rice or rice cakes and process until smooth. Return the soup to the pan, reheat thoroughly without boiling, and season to taste with a few scrapes of nutmeg, salt and pepper.
2. The perfect poached egg: poach the eggs one at a time. Break each egg into a cup, being careful not to break the yolk. Bring a small pan of water to the boil. When it is boiling rapidly, stir fast with a large spoon to create a vortex. Pour the egg into the centre of the vortex, place the lid on the pan and turn off the heat under it. Leave for exactly 2 minutes.
3. Serve the soup in warmed bowls, with a drained poached egg in the centre of each one and a blob of cream next to it, topped with a sprinkling of chopped wild garlic leaves or chives. And, of course, your toast.

total time: 20 minutes
preparation time: 5 minutes
cooking/baking time: 5 minutes