Posted on June 4th, 2009 at 12:06 pm by cureforsanity
Swedish Strawberry-Mint Soup
serves 6-8
Ingredients
- 3 pints strawberries, washed and hulled
- 6 cups water
- 1 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed (from about 4 oranges)
- 3 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 stalks lemongrass (tough outer leaves removed, tender inner stalks lightly smashed and sliced into 1/4-inch rounds)
- 2 cups mint, fresh, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup sugar
Directions
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Set aside 1/2 pint of the strawberries and thinly slice the rest.
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Place the sliced strawberries in a large saucepan and add the water, orange juice, ginger, lemongrass, mint and sugar, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
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Reduce the heat to low and simmer for five minutes.
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Remove from heat and set aside to steep for an hour.
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After steeping, strain the strawberry mixture through a fine sieve, mashing the strawberries to get the maximum strained liquid.
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Discard the solids.
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Cover and refrigerate the liquid–your strawberry soup–until well chilled–at least two hours.
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Meanwhile, cut the reserved 1/2 pint of strawberries into 1/4″ dice, place in a small bowl, cover and refrigerate.
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When ready to serve, place a small mound of diced strawberries in the center of each shallow soup plate or bowl, pour the chilled soup around the berries and serve.
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Note 1: You can, if you wish, serve this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
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Note 2: You can combine 1/2 cup of the soup with 1/2 cup of champagne for a lovely summer cocktail or with 1/2 cup of sparkling water for a non-alcoholic version.