Posted by: Darren in Cookery
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Jo and I came back from a few days away in Ireland recently to find that the spinach had made a determined effort to take over the entire brassica patch, shooting up long spikes of new growth to about three feet in height. I chopped ‘em all back and harvested any leaves that were large enough to use in salads, but that left me with a couple of dozen stalk-ends covered in tiny leaves that looked too fresh, tender and tasty to just chuck in the compost.

So I decided to turn them into soup, with the help of some freshly-dug potatoes.

For This Recipe, You Will Need:

• As much spinach as you’ve got (it will reduce right down and the more you have, the more spinachy it’ll be)
• About 300 – 400g of potatoes (several medium-sized ones, anyhow)
• 2 medium-sized onions
• Garlic cloves to taste (four for us)
• Oil or butter, for frying
• Salt, pepper, nutmeg, rosemary
• Boiling Water

Step 1: Peel, chop / slice the onions and garlic, then sweat them (i.e. fry gently in oil / butter) over a very low heat for around 10 mins, until tender and soft, throwing in a couple of chopped rosemary sprigs (if you’ve got ‘em and if you like ‘em) a couple of minutes before time is up.

Step 2: Peel (or leave the skins on if you prefer) and chop the spuds, then par-boil for 5-10 mins (depending on the size you’ve chopped them into).

Step 3: Wash the spinach well (to remove any passengers or loose soil) and then steam in a large pan with a little water until the spinach begins to wilt down and reduce in volume.

Step 4: When the above are all softened nicely, chuck them all into the same big pan, and add enough boiling water to prevent anything sticking, but not too much.

Step 5: Season to taste (lots of pepper, a little salt and a pinch of nutmeg in our version, but you could also chuck in some more fresh herbs) then simmer for another 5-10 mins, stirring well every so often, adding water a little at a time if it’s getting too thick.

Step 6: You can then either eat the soup as it is now (for that rustic effect) or grab a hand-blender and give it all a good whizzing-up until you have a smooth, thick, soupy consistency, adding more water if required.

Step 7: At whatever point you deem appropriate, serve with crusty bread, toasted rolls or anything else that takes your fancy. And of course, you could always dollop / swirl in a blob of creme fraiche for that restaurant-esque finishing touch.

Ridiculously easy, rather tasty and, thanks to the potatoes, quite filling too.

These articles might also be of interest:

1. Quick Recipe: Runner Bean Salsa
2. First Couple of Potato Harvests
3. Planting Out: Swiss Chard and Spinach and Kale