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Sopas Mallorquinas (Mallorcan Vegetable Bread Soup)

I recently travelled to Mallorca to find out what traditional vegan dishes are part of the local culture. The one that popped up on nearly every menu was Sopas Mallorquinas. It’s a rich vegetable soup that originated from the need to make use of whatever was currently growing in the garden, at a time when meat was not affordable or simply not available.

Nowadays, meat is often added to the soup as well, so make sure to ask when ordering.

In the spirit of making use of what’s available, I’ve taken the freedom to make a few small changes to adjust it to what I could buy locally. I used savoy cabbage instead of the Mallorcan white cabbage, which tends to have much softer leaves than the white cabbages you’d get in the UK. Mallorcans use stale slices of a local brown bread, thinly sliced, but a wholemeal sourdough works well too. And lastly, the island is known for its recent revival of the Tap de Cortí, a type of sweet pepper that is dried and ground into a powder and found in many traditional Mallorcan delicacies. It is difficult to get elsewhere, so opt for a good-quality Spanish sweet paprika instead. Although not traditional, you can add cooked beans like haricot or red kidney for some protein.

serves 4

Ingredients

  • onions

  • 4 garlic cloves

  • 80 ml of extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 savoy cabbage

  • 2 tbsp tomato paste

  • 50g parsley

  • 2 green peppers

  • 1/2 cauliflower

  • 30g sweet paprika

  • 400g brown sourdough bread (ideally stale)

Method

Peel and slice the onions, then peel and finely chop the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a casserole and gently fry the onion and garlic with 1 tbsp (30g) salt until golden. In the meantime, strip back the leaves of the cabbage and tear each leaf into bite-sized chunks.

Add the tomato paste to the onions, then fold in the cabbage and cook until the leaves have softened and reduced. Roughly chop the parsley including the stems, remove the core of the pepper and chop the flesh into chunks, break the cauliflower into smaller pieces and roughly chop the leaves. Then add the parsley, pepper, cauliflower and sweet paprika to the casserole followed by 1l water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until the cauliflower is tender.

Divide the slices of bread over four bowls and pour over some of the broth to let the bread absorb it. Drizzle the slices with a bit of olive oil, then scoop over the vegetables from the casserole. It should have the consistency of a thick veg stew rather than a soup. Enjoy!

Sopas Mallorquinas

I recently travelled to Mallorca to find out what traditional vegan dishes are part of the local culture. The one that popped up on nearly every menu was Sopas Mallorquinas. It’s a rich vegetable soup that originated from the need to make use of whatever was currently growing in the garden, at a time when meat was not affordable or simply not available.
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Active Time 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Spanish
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 3 onions
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 80 ml of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 savoy cabbage
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 50 g parsley
  • 2 green peppers
  • 1/2 cauliflower
  • 30 g sweet paprika
  • 400 g brown sourdough bread (ideally stale)

Instructions
 

  • Peel and slice the onions, then peel and finely chop the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a casserole and gently fry the onion and garlic with 1 tbsp (30g) salt until golden. In the meantime, strip back the leaves of the cabbage and tear each leaf into bite-sized chunks.
  • Add the tomato paste to the onions, then fold in the cabbage and cook until the leaves have softened and reduced. Roughly chop the parsley including the stems, remove the core of the pepper and chop the flesh into chunks, break the cauliflower into smaller pieces and roughly chop the leaves. Then add the parsley, pepper, cauliflower and sweet paprika to the casserole followed by 1l water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until the cauliflower is tender.
  • Divide the slices of bread over four bowls and pour over some of the broth to let the bread absorb it. Drizzle the slices with a bit of olive oil, then scoop over the vegetables from the casserole. It should have the consistency of a thick veg stew rather than a soup. Enjoy!
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