garlic spinach soup

...and i also promise that this will be the last soup recipe that i post for at least a month. this soup is made creamy only by eggs and a handful of parmesan. the garlic flavor is wonderful, mellowed out by the herbs and not overpowering. because i was using this as post-wisdom teeth extraction soup, i wanted some easily chewed vegetables in here, so to give it some nutritional oomph i stirred in some chopped fresh baby spinach moments before removing it from the heat. this is totally optional though--this soup is delicious as is.

garlic & spinach soup
adapted from the french menu cookbook via heidi
makes 4 servings

• 1 quart (4 cups) water*
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 sage leaves
• 1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
• a dozen medium cloves of garlic, smashed peeled, and chopped
• 1 tsp fine grain sea salt
• 1 whole egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
• 1 cup chopped fresh baby spinach (optional)
  
• day-old crusty bread

*i used 2 cups water and 2 cups vegetable stock for a little extra flavor

bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan and add the bay leaf, sage, thyme, garlic, and salt. heat to a gentle boil, reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes. remove the bay and sage leaves and turn off the heat. taste and add more salt if needed.

depending on your tastes here, i think it might be a good idea to give the garlic broth a whirr in the blender so you'll have a more evenly distributed garlic flavor and texture in the finished product--the garlic chunks were not a problem, in the end, but i think a slightly smoother consistency could be a good thing. if you have an immersion blender, now would be a perfect time to use it. this is up to you, but just a suggestion. return broth back to saucepan after blending.


with a fork, whisk the egg, egg yolks, cheese, and pepper together in a bowl until creamy. slowly drizzle in the olive oil, beating all the time, then add (slowly! slowly!), continuing to whisk, a large ladleful of the broth. stir the contents of the bowl into the garlic broth and whisk it continuously over low-medium heat until it thickens slightly, until about the consistency of cream. stir in spinach, wait a few seconds and then remove from heat.

place a handful of torn bread chunks into the bottom of each bowl and pour the soup over the bread (i omitted this, for teeth reasons). finish with a drizzle of olive oil, and serve immediately.