This simple soup begins with a buttery potato base and with the addition of an entire bag of spinach and fresh basil becomes a brilliant chartreuse bowl of comfort. As with many soups, this is even better the next day; it travels well and is a complete meal with the addition of a good crusty bread and crudités (I love the crunch of snap peas in contrast with the velvety soup.) This soup also freezes well and I often make a double batch so that I can portion out single servings for future lunches and quick dinners. If you like, the addition of hot chili pepper flakes just before serving is an interesting divergence from the pure creaminess of the soup.

Spinach Soup:

3 Tbsp. of butter (unsalted)

1 medium sized onion, diced

1 cup of small new potatoes, halved

2 cups of chicken or vegetable broth

1 bag of spinach (regular or baby)

2 Tbsp. fresh basil (plus more for garnish if you would like)

2 1/2 cups milk

Dash of nutmeg

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)

Hot chili flakes (optional)

1. Melt the butter over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the onions and cook for 3 minutes at which point add the potatoes and continue cooking for another 3 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Add the chicken or vegetable stock and bring to a boil, at which point the heat should be lowered so that the liquid simmers for 20 minutes with the lid positioned to allow for some of the steam to escape.

3. Add the entire bag of spinach and the fresh basil, with the lid securely on the pot allow the spinach to steam for 4 minutes. Turn the heat off.

4. Let the soup cool enough that you won’t risk burning yourself when you blend it. Working in small batches blend the soup until completely smooth; make sure to put a tea towel over the mouth of the blender in order to prevent splashing and potential burns. Pour the liquid back into the soup pot.

5. Add the milk and stir to combine. Heat the soup gently without bringing it to a boil and add the nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste.

6. Serve hot with chili flakes and/or a fresh basil chiffonade as a garnish.

Blur’s self-titled album is completely underrated, in my opinion (although I would really appreciate it if Song 2 somehow magically disappeared off of the record), it’s not that I’m a snob about it, but it really makes an otherwise seamless album feel disjointed somehow. Maybe it’s because a lot of it has a really unique spacey/ambient/kind of lo-fi sound happening and it turned into too much a beer-drinking-hockey-goal-scoring sort of anthem. Anyway, the song Beetlebum is one of my favourites. It’s somehow lazy and sexy at the same time; and while I’m not even going to suggest that soup is somehow sexy it definitely is lazy.

Blur – Beetlebum