Julienne of Five Lettuce Soup

Still looking for new and creative ways to eat lettuce, without a salad every night. This was OK. Made about a half recipe, with the varieties of lettuce we happened to have (3 different ones), and no chicory.

1 cup packed romaine lettuce leaves
1 cup packed Boston lettuce leaves
1 cup packed leaf lettuce
1 cup escarole leaves
½ cup packed escarole leaves
2 tbl. unsalted butter
5 cups chicken stock
½ cup heavy cream
6 egg yolks
1½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper

Wash the lettuces and dry well. Cut into ⅛ inch strip: This is easiest to do if you stack several leaves at a time, roll into a tight wad and slice them accross. You can also use the medium slicing disk of a food processor.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the lettuces and toss with the butter. When the lettuces are wilted, add the chicken stock and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the toughest leaves are tender.

In a small bowl, mix the cream with the egg yolks. Gradually stir in a small amount of the hot soup into the cream mixture to slowly raise the temperature of the egg yolks. Keep adding soup until the mixture is warm. Whick the egg yolk mixture into the soup and cook, stirring constantly, without letting the soup boil, until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Season with the salt and pepper.

Serves 6 to 8 as a first course
from Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka