Cold "Caesar Salad" Soup

I first saw this recipe while flipping through my favorite cookbook (of the moment), Artisanal Cooking, by Terrance Brennan and Andrew Friedman, and decided to remember it for the summer. Well, we got a full head of romaine lettuce in our CSA this week so I decided the time had come to try this unique recipe.

Cold "Caesar Salad" Soup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 C. Spanish onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
2 teaspoons, plus 1 pinch, salt
3 C. chicken stock
1 lb. Romaine Lettuce (about 1 head), cleaned and coarsely chopped
1/4 C plus 2 tablespoons finely grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
4 (preferably salt packed) Anchovy fillets, soakedm drained and patted dry (optional)
1/4 C. plus 2 tablespoons EVOO
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Parmesan and Black Pepper Croutons (Recipe follows)

Heat olive oil in heavy-bottomed stock pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and a pinch of salt and cook until soft but not browned (4 minutes). Add chicken stock and boil over high. Lower the heat and simmer until the onions are tender (15 minutes).

Meanwhile, fill a large bowl (I used the sink) with ice water.

Raise the heat to high and return the stock pot to a boil. Add the romaine lettuce and let boil for 4 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and add 1/4 C. cheese, 2 tsp. salt, and the anchovies (I left these out). Puree in batches, slowly adding the EVOO in a smooth stream. Transfer the mixture to a stainless steel bowl and set the bottom of the bowl in the ice water. Stir the soup to cool quickly.

Refrigerate the soup for up to 3 hours. Stir in the lemon juice right before serving.

Serve in chilled bowls. Garnish with croutons and 2 tbsp. cheese.

Parmesan and Black Pepper Croutons

Ingredients:

2 C. 3/4 in. cubed country bread or baguette
1 tbsp. EVOO
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. grated garlic
1/4 tsp. plus a pinch salt
2 tbsp. finely grated paramesan cheese
1/2 tsp. fresh black pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Put the bread cubes in a mixing bowl and set aside.

Warm the oil and bitter in a sauce pan over low heat. Add garlic and salt and cook until melted but not brown. Pour over bread cubes and stir to coat evenly. Add cheese and black pepper, stirring.

Spread cubes in 1 layer onto baking sheet and bake 5-6 minutes. The cubes should be golden-brown and crisp on the outside but chewy on the inside.

Review:

My expectations for this soup were not high though I was super intrigued by it. The blurb in the cook book above the recipe reads, "Soups fashioned from leafy greens are nothing new; spinach and escarole have been the basis of any number of examples. But you might be surprised at how well romaine works in this context and how naturally anchovy, lemon juice, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and black pepper fit in."
I hoped to be surprised.

The soup was, as you would expect with a soup made primarily our of lettuce, very green. It was also extremely salty. I did add a little extra salt, to make up for not using the salt-packed anchovies, something I will definitely scale back on the next time I make this recipe. Another change I plan to make is to add some Worcestershire sauce, since this is a key ingredient in my Caesar Salad dressing. 

So yes, this is a recipe I am going to attempt again- I am still intrigued and hoping to be surprised. The croutons, however, were amazing!!! I do love homemade croutons.