If we talk about more traditional Basque cuisine, the famous porrusalda or purrusalda recipe cannot be left out. This simple but delicious dish has two noble ingredients: leek and potato, whose combination offers endless benefits for the body and an exceptional flavor. Although today there are many people who add other vegetables such as carrots and fish such as cod to this recipe, the truth is that the original recipe was made only with these two ingredients.
The word “porrusalda” comes from Basque, specifically from “porru” or “purru”, which means “leek”, and “salad”, which is “broth”. Therefore, “porrusalda” translates as “leek broth”, which is precisely what the recipe consists of. It is very easy to make and in less than half an hour you will have a substantial dish.
Ingredients to make traditional Porrusalda:
- 5 leeks
- 3 medium potatoes
- 1 pinch of salt
- olive oil
- Water
How to make traditional Porrusalda:
- Clean the leeks well and cut them into slices of about one and a half centimeters. Peel the potatoes and cut them irregularly but evenly in size to even out the cooking.
- In a deep pot and with a little olive oil, add the leeks, salt and pepper and sauté them for a few minutes.
- When the leeks begin to be tender, add the potatoes and cook them for 2 minutes with the liquid that the leeks have released. This step gives the porrusalda an extra flavor because it allows the potato to acquire that flavor of the leek.
- Tip: remember that you can add other ingredients to the porrusalda, such as carrots.
- After cooking the potatoes for those minutes, and without them having taken on any color, pour water until it covers all the ingredients and exceeds them by approximately 2 cm.
- When it starts to boil, lower the heat so that the potatoes do not break and cook the porrusalda for approximately 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are ready. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately. The traditional porrusalda recipe is served hot and is perfect to combat the cold and regain strength.
