Ingredients:
1 pork ear, 1 piece of ham bone
1 onion, 2 carrots, 300g pumpkin, 1 celery stalk, 1 leek, 200g of cauliflower, 1 zucchini, 1⁄4 cabbage, 1 sweet potato, 3 potatoes, 8 artichokes
1 bunch of rosemary
½ liter of low-acidity olive oil, fine salt and Maldon salt flakes
150g of fresh cheese
Chopped chives and coriander leaves
Preparation:
Prepare an infusion with oil and the rosemary bunch. Keep it for about 2 hours on very low heat, let it cool. Next day strain it and your scented oil is ready to use.
In a saucepan with water, salt and a splash of oil put the ham bone and the pork ear to cook. When it starts to boil, add all the peeled, clean and chopped vegetables (except for the artichokes) and leave to cook for about 35 minutes.
Method:
After this time, remove the ham bone and the ear from the pot and blend the rest with a hand blender. Return the vegetable cream soup back to low heat, adding the fresh cheese and a pinch of salt. Mix well, you want to obtain a fine and smooth texture, strain it through a chinois and set aside until serving.
Peel the artichokes and remove the hearts, put them in a bowl with water and lemon to stop the oxidation and prevent them from turning black. Cook them in salted water with a little flour and lemon juice, remove from water when they are “al dente”. Once cooled, cut them in half and brown them on a grill, remove and sprinkle with salt flakes.
Cut the cooked ear into cubes and caramelize it in a pan with a sprinkle of rosemary oil until golden brown and crispy.
Presentation:
Serve the vegetable cream soup hot, topped with the crispy ear cubes and the grilled artichokes, sprinkled with the chopped chives and decorated with a few coriander leaves and a splash of rosemary oil.
Alternatives:
You can swap the crispy pork ear for a seafood salad (salpicó de marisc)
NUTRITIONAL NOTE:
Vegetable cream is especially rich in nutrients thanks to the variety of ingredients and at the same time, it is easy to digest since everything is blended. It helps us to stay hydrated. The pig’s ear, face and feet are very gelatinous parts, rich in collagen which, besides giving the broth a body, is a source of protein and iron, without adding any fat. Artichokes are very rich in fiber, they contain potassium and substances that promote the functioning of the gallbladder.
