The below is a post I put together for a local blog a couple of years ago. I still love to eat fresh wild dandelion out of my backyard, so I thought I would share this lovely soup as it’s the season for wild dandelion once again. Unfortunately I have, since the first publishing of this post, discovered I’m allergic to eggs. I also can’t eat the red pepper in the recipe due to my histamine intolerance. That of course is an optional ingredient. Still for most people this recipe is very healthy and wholesome. I eat dandelion greens in a multitude of other ways too.
An Italian friend of mine and I were discussing the meals of our youth (we are both American-Italians) when she mentioned a dish I’d never had. Dandelion soup. I grew up eating lots of dandelion but it was generally sautéed in garlic and olive oil and then served as such. The simple sautéed dish remains my very favorite vegetable dish. We’ve been harvesting our (wild) dandelion for a couple of years since I love it so much and could eat it daily.
In any case dandelion soup caught my attention. We’d never eaten it. My friend told me it was Sicilian. I am not of Sicilian descent. In any case she told me it was the same sautéed version I make but then it’s thrown into chicken stock with egg and Parmigiano cheese.
It’s very early in the year in the part of the country I live in so our garden is not yet planted. I was lucky that just as I wanted dandelion there is a large amount of wild dandelion, otherwise known as weeds in our yard. If you’re not lucky enough to live in location where you can easily access wild dandelion you can buy it in most health food stores these days.
My husband picked a big bag of it. It wilts quite a bit once it’s cooked so I don’t know how to say how much I used, but I can assure you to use more than you think you need.
So this is what I did to make it. I am not assuming this is authentic at all. I only had the ingredients to go by and then I did my own thing.
- 64 oz chicken stock (or soup stock of your choice)
- 5 eggs beaten
- 1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese (omit the cheese if you can’t eat dairy)
- 1/2 a plastic grocery bag half full of packed dandelion (how’s that for a measurement?)
- 5 cloves of chopped garlic
- salt to taste
- red chili flakes to taste (if you prefer use fresh ground black pepper)
- olive oil for sauteeing
I sauteed the garlic for a few minutes and then tossed in the dandelion. Sauteed until completely wilted.
Heat chicken stock to boiling. On a simmer start stirring the stock in a steady fashion while slowly pouring the egg in a steady stream. Stirring the stock during this process is important so that the egg cooks the right way. When the stock and was also boiling I stirred the soup rapidly and poured in the beaten eggs slowly while continuing to stir quickly. It’s key to keep on rapidly stirring. As soon as the egg was all poured and stirred I took it off the heat.
Following the egg, put in the dandelion and then the cheese. Salt to taste along with the red pepper flakes.
Eating wholesome whole real food is important for body/mind/spirit health and well-being. I’ve written a lot about my adventure with diet and healing here: Nutrition and gut health, Mental health and diet
And you can find more Foodie Friday posts and recipes here.
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