Shopping…

A glimpse of the shuk yesterday.

Lookit all that garlic over there on the right.

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Passover Cooking: Spinach Soup with Roasted Garlic

Can you guys take another recipe starring garlic?

Er…it won’t be the last garlic recipe… One more, and then I’ll stop.

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Many thanks to Amy P. for contributing this dish. I took some liberties with the original recipe, which calls for vegetable stock and more garlic. I had some beef stock on hand and so used that. But the soup would be good no matter which stock it’s based on. Garlicky, though, garlicky…

Spinach Soup with Roasted Garlic

serves 4

Ingredients:

1 head of roasted garlic.

Suggestion: Roast the garlic next to baked potatoes or roasted chicken or when you’re making the delicious slow-roasted tomatoes.

Digression: The original recipe called for two heads of garlic, but as much as we love the stuff, 2 heads seemed excessive. Unless – and this is a thought – the soup is made with vegetable stock and about 1/4 cup of cream is stirred into it at the very last.

5 cups of well-seasoned stock. Here is my turkey neck stock. The post discusses chicken and other meat variations. You can easily make a vegetable base out of the same basic ingredients: just leave out the meat and simmer for 1 hour only.

4 cups of fresh, cleaned, and trimmed spinach

Method:

1. Squeeze the garlic flesh out of the papery skins.

2. Mash them.

3. Ladle your stock in. Simmer for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

4. Add the spinach.

Stir well and cover. Allow the spinach to steam about 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve.

This soup isn’t filling, but works very well in advance of heavier dishes. We all liked it, and felt oddly stronger (like Popeye) after eating it.

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