Sorrel Recipes
TOP TIP
- Tear or shred with fingers - chop only with a stainless steel knife & never cook in an iron pan
- The leaves may be puréed in soups and sauces or added to salads and shav (Eastern European soup)
- Chop for stuffings and crumb coatings
- Use in a mixed greens salad
- Cook like spinach and/or use in place of
- Omelettes
- Try adding a few shredded leaves to cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches
- Shred some into fromage frais or soft goat's cheese and spread on toast
- For a delicious canapé, spread the leaves with the thinnest smear of cream cheese and a sliver of smoked salmon or trout, and roll up
- A natural companion for eggs
- Sorrel's other match made in heaven is oily fish - including salmon, sea trout, sea bass and mackerel
Hot or Cold Sorrel Sauce
Sorrel gives a real lift to a fresh salad as it has a wonderfully bitter tang to it but it is as a sauce that it comes into its own.
You can make a cooked sorrel sauce with many finely chopped leaves blended with a white sauce or try it as a fresh, pale green, sauce - it looks fantastic with the pink of salmon or cooked smoked ham. Just liquidise a handful of sorrel leaves with whatever you have to hand - yoghurt, mayo, single cream or crème fraiche - and serve cold.
Cream of Sorrel Soup
The ‘citrusy’ tartness of sorrel is nicely balanced with the small amount of cream to make a refreshing soup served equally well hot or cold. This recipe serves 4.
Ingredients
1 onion
2 medium potatoes (or 1 large)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound sorrel (Or substitute half spinach)
3 cups chicken broth
4 fl. oz cream
Salt and pepper
Method
Peel or scrub the potatoes; chop the potatoes and onion. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Cook potato and onion, lightly salted, in the oil, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, rinse the sorrel and strip out the center stems which may be tough and fibrous. Reserve a small leaf or two for garnish, if you wish. Add stock and sorrel to the pot. Cover and cook until sorrel, potato and onion are soft - about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat andadd cream. Purée, preferably with a handheld blender. If using regular blender or food processer, work in small batches to prevent splattering of hot liquid.
Serve hot, or chill and serve cold. Garnish, if you wish, with slivers of sorrel leaf, edible flowers or a few snipped chives.
