Smooth And Spicy Spinach Soup |
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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 50 Minutes |
Ready In: 50 Minutes Servings: 5 |
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It's getting into the colder months, and it was another hungry foray into the fridge that brought this recipe out. It's a seriously warming (and filling) soup that's just great on its own. Ingredients:
spinach leaves (300g) - the fresher the better. |
1 large clove of garlic |
1 large potato |
1 leek |
1 'sweet' onion |
600ml chicken stock (can use vegetable stock) |
500ml milk |
300ml tub of low fat crème fraiche |
1 spoonful of butter |
salt & black pepper to taste |
Directions:
1. Roughly chop the Leek and the Onion. Get your stock ready and waiting!
2. Over a medium heat, melt the butter, then throw in the chopped vegetables, covering the pot and cooking for 5 minutes, or until the onions are starting to clear.
3. Meanwhile, finely chop the clove of garlic, then when the onions are clearing, add the garlic, cover and cook for another couple of minutes.
4. Roughly chop the potato, then add to the pot (give it a good stir), cover, and cook for another couple of minutes.
5. Grind in a really good whack of black pepper, turn the heat up a bit, then add the 500ml of stock (I used a Polish Chicken soup stock powder, which is pretty salty, but also pretty good :)).
6. Bring the pot back up to the boil, reduce the heat, cover, and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes.
7. Add the milk and half of your washed spinach leaves. Mix this well, bring back to a low simmer, and cover again. Cook for another 15 minutes or so. (Probably worth keeping an eye on it at this point, as boy does that milk boil over :)).
8. Check that the spinach has well and truly wilted away, then take the soup off the heat, and allow it to cool for a few minutes. It should be looking a very pale green colour with lots of spinach floating around.
9. When it's cooled a bit, blend it until it's completely smooth.
10. Now - the cool 'spinachy' trick I heard from someone - add the remaining spinach leaves, and blend again down to smooth. This'll make it 'seriously' dark green (and taste just spangly!).
11. Add another good whack of black pepper, the tub of low fat crème fraiche and perhaps a pinch or two of salt, then stick the pot back on a low heat, and bring it back up to a very very light simmer whilst stirring the mixture. It does work without the crème fraiche if you fancy it that way, but I found a pot, and it needed using up!
12. Eat.
13. Feel nice and warm!
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