Light soups are perfect in Spring when it's nowhere near as warm as we wish it were, but when cooking hearty winter fare would feel too much like defeat.

This one is perfect with a Furmint or Sauvignon blanc. You can do the same with any other herb of your choice, rocket, wild garlic or nettle.

Recipe translated from one shared with Günter and Regina Triebaumer (comments are my own).

Ingredients:
1 large onion or 3-5 shallots

large bundle of chervil, 100-150g

500ml broth, vegetable, chicken or beef (the Triebaumers recommend beef)

splash of wine

a couple tablespoons of sour cream or double cream

salt, pepper, nutmeg and/or allspice

  • Cook the chopped onion in butter, add a good dash of the Sauvignon or Furmint (we know you opened it already and are sampling it while you cook, because that is often what we do! Sacrifice a little to the dish, it's worth it).
  • Chop the chervil, add it to the onions and wine and cover with strong beef broth (or vegetable broth and a little bit of marmite to taste if you want to keep it vegetarian).
  • Cook briefly (you don't want the chervil to lose its green colour!).
  • Blend the soup - if you want it to be a perfect cream soup pass it through a fine sieve or mill. At home we're usually lazy, and we like the slighly more rustic texture.
  • Add a little bit of cream or sour cream to taste to finish the soup. Salt & Pepper (I also like a tiny amount of nutmeg or jamaican pepper with chervil).

Serve with homemade croutons or good brown bread.