If you are looking for a comforting soup that has nothing to do with turkey, check out my potato, mushroom, spinach soup. You might happen to have all the ingredients on hand, and in less than an hour, you’ll have a steaming hot bowl of soup on the table. This potato, mushroom, spinach soup would make a great appetizer for your holiday entertaining, too.
I’ve been looking forward to soup weather for quite awhile now. We had some unusually warm and sunny weather for the first part of November. Thanksgiving, however, heralded in the rain – with forty mile winds and thunder and lightening. Can we just say it was a super wet Turkey Trot this year? It looks like the rain is here to stay, so you’ll be seeing soup recipes here on the blog, without a doubt.
I’d originally planned to make soup with chanterelles. However, wild foods show up inconsistently at our local co-op. No complaints, mind you – I’m just happy they stock freshly foraged foods at all. I ended up with a pound of the most beautiful oyster mushrooms instead. I had plenty of mushroom tops for this soup and the stems went into the stock back in the freezer. I love to make mushroom stock from all the stems of various mushrooms throughout the fall. I’ve also been known to toss the mushroom bits into chicken stock for an added umami flavor.
Mushrooms, potatoes, and then a handful of spinach make this soup cozy. This is a great excuse to have soup and salad for lunch. Or – if you have turkey lurking still, consider soup and grilled brie and turkey sandwiches for an easy weekend dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 small potatoes, diced
- 2 cups mushrooms, diced
- 2 cups spinach
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup half and half or milk
- 2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
- ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and saute over low heat until the onion is lightly caramelized. Add the diced potatoes and stir for two or three minutes. Add the chicken or vegetable stock, rosemary, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 10 - 15 minutes or until the potato is cooked through.
- While the potatoes are cooking, heat the remaining tablespoon in a small pan or saucepan. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft, adding water or stock as necessary to keep the mushrooms from sticking. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour and milk in a small bowl until the flour is thoroughly incorporated and there are no lumps.
- Add the flour/milk and mushrooms to the stock and potatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook until the soup is slightly thick and heated through - about ten minutes. Add the spinach and cook for another minute.
- Remove the stems from the rosemary. Season to taste.
- Serves 4 as a meal and 6 as a starter. Enjoy!
