Lettuce soup is a surprisingly divisive dish. There is something about taking a green we eat raw and cooking it that really upsets people. The reality is that like spinach, lettuce can work in both raw and cooked applications . I have a few old NZ cookbooks that feature recipes for lettuce soup and with a garden bed of lettuce that needed clearing so I could sow broadbeans I decided to give it a whirl.

Ingredients

A sink full of lettuce washed and torn

2 cups of stock

2 teaspoons Anglo Indian curry powder

2 onions diced

3 cloves of garlic crushed

Handful of mirepoix

A splash of cream  salt and pepper

2 bay leaf

A sprig of coriander chopped

Oil

Salt and pepper

Add a little oil in the bottom of a saucepan , add onion and a pinch of salt and sauté

Add garlic , bay , stir through , add mirepoix , curry powder , fry for a further minute

Add lettuce , wilt a little in the heat , add stock

Bring to a boil and gently simmer for 20min

Remove bay , blend , add back to the pan , add a splash of cream and bring back up to a simmer

Season, add chopped coriander, taste , re season.

Serve with crusty bread and a splash of fermented chili sauce on top.