As soon as I heard about the new blog event: No Croutons Required I knew I was going to like it! It is about vegetable salads and soups - and every month is going to have a different theme. Now I love soup (I think it's such a Scottish thing - a huge vat of broth to line your tummy on a chilly day!) and was excited to get an excuse to go home and make some! (Even though what I should have done was go home and do housework as I have a parental visit today... Never mind - my dad likes soup too!)
No Croutons Required is being jointly run Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen and Holler at Tinned Tomatoes and this month we're making... Vegetarian Soup!
I made Spinach and Garlic Soup - hot, thick, filling and healthy! I started making this when I was a student - it evolved from potato and leek soup (!) when I tried to force more nutrients in. I still love it - I ate some of it last night, and have some here at work in a flask for when I've finished writing this. Served with a hunk of crusty bread, it's a meal in itself!
As always, quantities are approximate - add more potato for a thicker soup, or more stock for a thinner one. I usually make this as a one-pot soup, but because the spinach was really sandy, I decided to cook it separately just to ensure all the grit was removed.
My gorgeous spinach - but how much sand???!- 2 big bunches of spinach - I usually use a large bag from the supermarket, but managed to pick some up fresh - yummy!
- 1 kilo floury potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 litre of vegetable stock - I made mine from Roast Vegetable Bouillon concentrate
- Salt and plenty of black pepper
Gently fry the onion and garlic in a little butter or olive oil until soft, then add the stock, about a teaspoon of salt and a good few grinds of black pepper.
Add the rinsed potato chunks, bring to the boil and cook until soft.
Remove the potatoes from the stock with a slotted spoon and mash. I actually used a ricer to do mine - mostly because it was at the front of my utensil drawer!
Return the potatoes to the stock mix and stir well. Taste, and adjust seasoning as required.
Add the spinach purée, taste again, and serve! You could add a swirl of cream, or a grating of parmesan to the top of this, or leave it bare - it will taste good any which way!
Now how easy was that??
3 comments:
This is one of my favorite soups. I must admit...especially this time of year...I buy bags of baby spinach...much less sand! ;-)
Sounds cool thanks, spinach are really good for the body, everyone should eat this, but well just a few people really like this, so you can add some eggs or something else to enjoy it.
Nice blog you have
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