Simple and delicious! It is an uncomplicated soup! So good!
Ramsons soup belongs to spring and summer here in Sweden. It is hard to get hold of sometimes – but oh, what a joy when you get to buy them fresh! Or even pick them yourself if you happen to be on the Island of Gotland here in Sweden.
Allium ursinum is the Latin name – but commonly people call it wild garlic. It is native to Europe and Asia,
When I was a child and hiking with my parents in the mountains (northwest part of Iran – Kurdistan), we could see large fields with ramsons. I loved to pick and eat them right there and then. The plant looked a little different than the Swedish one, but the taste is the same.
After almost 40 years in Sweden, I concluded that it must be the same plant like the one I ate when I was little – you have no idea how happy I was. The first thing I made with the ramsons was soup – but I know that in Iran people use it in various dishes.
I was incredibly surprised to see that my grocery store had brought in fresh ramsons a couple of days ago – the price can be discussed per se, but I bought everything they had.
Once home, I decided to make ramsons soup, because in my point of view it is the most delicious uncomplicated soup despite the few ingredients, Our eldest son Pierre loves ramsons as well. I usually order dried ramsons from Germany when I cannot find them in Sweden!
If you cannot have wine in the food, you can easily replace the wine with water – you may need a little more spices and few drops of lemon juice. If you want a vegan version, you can use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
If you want a little more heat, you can mix in 1/4 tsp of ground cumin or 1 tsp sambal oelek.
Ingredients for 4 servings
200 grams of fresh ramsons
2 Tbsp of butter
30 grams of chopped shallots (optional)
2.5 dl white wine
0,5 dl water (500 g water)
2 dl crème fraiche
2 bouillon cubes (I took one chicken and one vegetable bouillon)
0.5 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp pepper
For extra “heat” use either 1/4 tsp ground cumin or 1 tsp sambal oelek.
Thickening: 2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp cold water
Method:
- Wash the ramsons and let them dry for a while.
- Peel and chop the shallots
- Roughly chop the ramsons.
- Melt some butter in a large saucepan and fry the shallots for a short while (about 1 min).
- Add the ramsons and fry together with the shallots for about 5 minutes.
- Pour on the wine and crumble the bouillon; mix well.
- Add 5 dl of water and bring it to a boil.
- Add 0,5 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper, mix well. Put on the lid and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Mix the soup smoothly with a hand mixer.
- Add sour cream and mix well.
- Mix 2 tsp of cornstarch with 2 tsp of cold water and stir well before adding it to the hot soup. Mix well.
Taste and correct the seasoning.
Serve with hot open sandwiches!.
Enjoy!
