Cooking Italy - Spinach Soup with Crostini and a little Spinach 101
Recipe for filling adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classical Cooking
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh spinach 2 large fresh containers or 2 ten-ounce frozen
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 onion finely chopped
- 3 cups homemade chicken broth You can use meat broth or a good quality organic store-bought broth diluted 2 broth -1 water
- 1 cup organic milk
- whole nutmeg
- 5 tablespoons pecorino cheese freshly grated or
- parmigiano reggiano freshly grated
- sea salt
Croutons
- Crostini Italian Croutons
- 4 pieces bread
- vegetable oil can use olive oil
Instructions
- Steam fresh spinach or cook frozen. (See VITAMIX INSTRUCTIONS BELOW)
- Put spinach in pan with no more water than necessary with salt.Cook for a few minutes, just until wilted.
- Allow to thoroughly cool, and squeeze water using paper towels.I wrapped steamed spinach in paper towels and refrigerated overnight.
- Put onion in cold pan with butter. Saute until soft. Add spinach and cook for 2 -3 minutes.
- Add broth, milk and a small grating of nutmeg. Bring to a simmer and stir from time to time.
- Cook about 20 minutes. Add cheese.
- Add to Vitamix and mix just enough to still have some heft of the spinach.
- Stir, cook until cheese integrated. Season with salt to taste.
- Serve at table with crostini, more cheese and optional olive oil to top off.
Croutons
- Cut off crusts, and cut bread into 1” squares
- Saute in oil until crisp. Serve immediately or same day.
Vitamix Method
- Put onion in cold pan with butter. Sauté until soft.
- Add broth, milk, wilted onion, fresh spinach into Vitamix. Turn on to soup button which will heat up and cook spinach and broth. Add Pecorino Cheese, olive oil.