As I mentioned in my previous post, I made Parsley Soup as part of our Passover Shabbat dinner. Obviously, this can be made anytime, but the lovely bright green color and fresh vegetal taste just say “spring” to me. The fact that no part of the parsley is wasted is a plus for those who care about creating as little waste as possible. The first step is admittedly a bit tedious if you are making enough for a crowd, but if you have someone to help you and you get busy chatting, the effort passes quickly. It’s something that is also fun to do with children since no knives are needed – nor is perfection. Please use real butter and milk for this dish. It simply won’t taste the same with anything else. Since I was serving fish as my main course, there was no problem in meeting the laws of Kashrut. If you have an immersion blender (EVERYONE should have an immersion blender – greatest gift ever!) preparing the rest of the soup is a snap.

I found this soup on the internet years ago and did not take down the attribution so my apologies to the original author. I did make several changes in the proportions, so here is my version.

Parsley Soup for a Crowd

Yield: About 20 cups

Ingredients

6 large bunches of flat-leaf parsley

2 sticks (16 Tablespoons) of unsalted butter

2 large onions, coarsely chopped

7 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and chopped into large cubes

8 cups of chicken stock (Whether you use stock with salt will depend on how much additional salt you use.)

Kosher salt and white pepper to taste

1 cup of whole milk

Directions

1. Separate the leaves from the stems. Place the leaves in a large colander and pour boiling water over them and then run cold water over them. This will blanch the leaves, while retaining the lovely bright green color. Gently squeeze any water out of the leaves and wrap them in a kitchen towel and squeeze out any excess water.
2. Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and parsley stems and cook uncovered over low heat until the stems have begun to soften – about 20 minutes.
3. Add the potatoes, stock, salt and pepper and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes more. Remove from the heat and allow to cool until it is simply warm. Once the soup has cooled some, add the parsley leaves and with an immersion blender, puree the soup. This can also be done in batches in a food processor, but aside from creating more clean-up, it’s much more time consuming. Get an immersion blender! You will thank me later.
4. Once the soup has been pureed, add the milk and adjust your seasoning. Reheat the soup gently over a low heat when you are ready to serve. If it is not Passover, you can garnish this with some croutons. Otherwise, a sprig of parsley is all you need. The soup can be served chilled as well, but I prefer it hot.