A simple soup made with artichokes, mallow leaves, rice, and stock. It tastes slightly reminiscent of avgolemono soup. If you eat meat, consider adding sausage or chicken.
½cuplong grain riceor ¼ cup cooked rice. This makes double what you need since it's pointless to cook less.
1cupchicken stock or vegetable stock
2teaspoonsolive oil
¼teaspoonkosher salt
1dried bay leaf
Soup
1small4oz onion, diced ¼ inch
3large cloves garlic minced or grated
2tablespoonsolive oil
4oz(roughly 2 packed cup) fresh mallow leavesstems discarded, shredded ½ inch
5cupschicken stock
Kosher saltto taste
Pinchof crushed red pepperto taste
Fresh lemon juicea dash, to taste
½teaspoondried Greek oreganoor to taste
114 oz can artichoke hearts or bottoms drained and roughly chopped
Instructions
Toast the rice in a small pan on low heat while you prep the other ingredients, swirling the pan occasionally for about 15-20 minutes, until the rice is toasty brown and aromatic.
Add 1 cup of the stock to the rice, along with ¼ teaspoon salt, olive oil and bay, cover, turn the heat to as low as possible and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Cover the rice and allow to rest.
Meanwhile, in a 2 qt or large pot, sweat the onions and garlic in the olive oil until translucent, then add the tomato paste, and oregano, crushing the oregano between your fingers as you sprinkle it in.
Add the remaining 4 cups of stock, along with the mallow leaves and artichokes, bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning for salt and oregano until it tastes good to you.
Just before serving, stir in ½ cup of the cooked rice, heat through, then and the lemon juice to taste at the last moment. Feta or dollops of goat cheese can be a nice garnish too.