Green Garlic Soup

From Julia McDonald/Peasants Plot

Julia cooked and husband Todd served two versions of the tangy spring soup — one made with chicken stock and one thoroughly veggie. Says Julia, “Green garlic shoots are a sure indicator of spring and what is to come on the farm, so I thought of garlic right away for this night’s Spring Forward theme. As we watch the garlic plants grow above ground, we know the bulb underground will be ready for us midsummer.The garlic bulbs in this soup–and the sage leaves–were saved from last year’s harvest.”

Ingredients
6 plum heads of garlic
6 cups broth (chicken or, in the vegetarian version I used dried morel mushrooms)
a generous sprinkle of dried sage leaves
2 large potatoes (I used storage potatoes, but it would be really good with new potatoes)
1 cup heavy cream (optional)
fresh parsley for garnish

Preparation
Break the garlic up into cloves, tossing aside any brown or soft cloves. Combine with the broth and herbs and potatoes in a large pot. Bring to a gentle simmer over high heat then turn it down to low and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes. Test the softness of everything with a fork—try mashing the potatoes against the inside of the pot. If easily mashable, then proceed to the blender. In my case (and recommended for all soup makers) I used am immersion blender so that I didn’t have to do a messy transfer from blender/food processor and back to pot.

Stir in cream before serving. Garnish with another indicator of what is to come—fresh parsley (or dill or cilantro).