Warming Cream of Spinach Soup
This is quick, inexpensive and nutritious, yet so delicious that I could eat it every day. Real comfort food.
This is quick, inexpensive and nutritious, yet so delicious that I could eat it every day. Real comfort food.
- Carbohydrate 8.81333843447615 g
- Cholesterol 16.4715625 mg
- Fat 6.76856656246117 g
- Fiber 2.45736257563263 g
- Protein 4.40449343709067 g
- Saturated Fat 3.91466299999386 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (226g)
- Sodium 605.198687499921 mg
- Sugar 6.35597585884352 g
- Trans Fat 0.955126312487121 g
- Calories 107 calories
Step-by-step
- To prepare, chop the half onion. Measure the milk and chicken broth and heat together on the stove or in the microwave. If you wish, you may use just milk or just chicken broth.
- Put the frozen spinach in a pot, cover, and allow to thaw completely. Alternately, you may microwave it.
- Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a pot large enough to hold all ingredients in this recipe. Add the onion and sautee until translucent.
- Sprinkle flour into butter and stir. Add 1/4 cup of the broth/milk liquid and whisk or stir in until smooth. Repeat 1/4 cup at a time until all of the liquid is incorporated, reheating each time you add liquid. Once you have added all of the liquid, allow to simmer for a couple of minutes.
- Add the spinach to the liquid. Heat through, then season to taste.
- Blend the soup with a hand blender or in a blender. Return to the pot and reheat. Taste and season again if necessary.
Operating under a strict thirty-minute time constraint demands precise management of liquid temperatures when building a roux-based velouté. Heating the milk and chicken broth together beforehand prevents the fat-flour mixture from seizing when the liquids hit the pan, ensuring a smooth suspension without persistent lumps. When multiplying this yield for a larger group, maintain a strict ratio of one tablespoon of butter to one tablespoon of flour per cup of liquid to preserve the correct viscosity.
Incorporating the warmed dairy and broth gradually in quarter-cup increments allows the starch granules to gelatinize fully before more liquid enters the pot. Whisking continuously over medium-high heat prevents scorching at the base of the heavy-bottomed vessel. Simmering the combined base for exactly two minutes cooks out any raw flour taste while thickening the mixture sufficiently to suspend the pureed spinach fibers.
Thawing the frozen spinach completely prior to introduction eliminates excess water that would otherwise dilute the targeted dairy richness. Pureeing the greens directly into the hot velouté using an immersion blender creates a vibrant, uniform emulsion without requiring the transfer of hot liquids to a countertop jug. Adjusting the seasoning with nutmeg, cayenne, and Tabasco immediately after blending brings balance to the earthy vegetal notes.
Leftovers stored in an airtight glass container remain viable for up to three days in refrigeration, though gentle reheating on the stovetop is required to prevent separation of the dairy fats. Additional broth can be whisked in during the reheating phase if the starches continue to absorb moisture overnight and thicken the texture beyond preference.
