Iced Cream of Watercress Soup

 Recipe from chef patrick

Ingredients :
This very refreshing soup can be served in various occasions: served in shot glasses as an "amuse bouche", or in cocktail glass or a cup as a starter. This iced watercress soup can be enriched with few mussels, crab meat or small dices of scallops. Some small dices of Serrano ham, chorizo or smoked duck magret would nicely complement your watercress soup, too.

Iced Watercress cream soup for 6 small soup bowl:
1 bunch of watercress
3 shallots, finely chopped
30g butter
600g greek style yoghurt
10cl double cream
1/2 litre (1pt) full fat milk
salt and freshly ground pepper

Direction :
1) Thoroughly wash your watercress. Pick few nice leaves, blanch them and put them aside to garnish your soup at the end.
2) In a thick bottom saucepan, melt the butter down and gently sweat off your shallots for 5 minutes or so.
3) Coarsly chop your watercress and add them to the shallots, season well and allow to gently cook for 5 minutes. Finally pour in the milk and let the mixture cook for 8 minutes.
4) Let the mixture cool down for a little while and blitz the watercress-milk mixture in a food processor. Then pass it, through a fine chinois making sure to make most of the watercress's pulp pass through.
5) Put your double cream in the freezer for 5 minutes.
6) Mix your watercress pure with the yoghurt, taste the seasoning and put the mixture in the fridge for another couple of minutes.
7) Whip your double cream, season it well with salt and pepper.
8) Pour some of the watercress soup in your soup bowl. Using a piping bag, add a bit of whipped cream on the top of the soup. Sprinkle a bit cayenne pepper on the top of it. Finally top the whipped cream with a couple of blanched leaves of watercress.

Dear readers, this is a base, so let us know what is your winning combination.