I love making soup, and this 6 ingredient soup is spectacular! Magnus Nilsson, the famed chef from the restaurant Faviken, is a genius, and this soup exemplifies this. In addition, this soup is super simple to make. I adapted the cooking of the soup a bit to make it even simpler, but the results are just as delicious. The chef blanches the spinach in water briefly, he does this to maintain the bright color of the spinach. I adapted this to add the spinach to the stock and cook for 2-3 minutes till the spinach is just blanched, but still a bright green. I quickly purée the soup at this stage to maintain the brightness of the color and the wonderful flavor of the spinach. This soup bursts with the flavor of spinach, with subtle underlying tones of nutmeg and dill. Although it has cream, this soup can be made healthy by reducing the amount of cream, or using whole milk instead. The secret to the soup is making a gentle roux that flavors, and thickens, the soup. I generally serve this soup on its own with fresh bread, butter and some light cheese, it makes for a lovely dinner. This tome on Nordic food is a master class in cooking technique, Nordic flavors and dishes. It covers the entire region, bring to my table dishes that I know so little about. The recipes range from super simple, like this one, to complex, but every recipe that I have cooked has been spectacular.
For more recipes from this cookbook click here.
Ingredients
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 shallots, finely chopped
4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1 1/4 lb spinach, whole if baby, or trimmed of stems and well washed if large leaves
2 tablespoon dill, chopped, plus more for garnish
Salt to taste
White pepper to taste
1 pinch of nutmeg
1/2-1 cup heavy cream
2 hard-boiled eggs cooked for 6 minutes (halved or quartered, for garnish) (optional)
In a large soup pot, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes. Be careful not to darken the flour too much, this is an essential step in flavoring the soup.
Add the shallots and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the stock and bring to simmer. Stir in the dill and spinach cook until the spinach is just cooked and a bright green. Do not overcook the spinach, it will turn into a drab green that does not look good.
Puree the soup with a hand blender until smooth or in a blender; season with salt, white pepper and nutmeg.
Ladle into bowls, garnish with the eggs and chopped dill and serve. I cook the eggs for 6 minutes as I like the yolks to be a touch raw in the center. This maintains the wonderful creaminess of the yolks. Yes I realize that I do not have the perfect 6 minute egg in this picture!