Description
Soft, sweet, fragrant slow-cooked garlic pair with greens and healing bone broth in this comfort soup, perfect for cold and flu season.
Ingredients
- 3 medium Leeks (about 1 1/2 pounds)
- 12 ounces (about 6 cups loosely packed) clean fresh Spinach, baby spinach or white-stemmed chard
- 3 heads (about 25 cloves garlic) of Garlic peeled and sliced thinly lengthwise
- 5 tablespoons Olive oil, divided
- 12 cups Chicken or vegetable broth, homemade or store-bought
- 3 Bay leaves
- 1/2 cup uncooked, unrinsed White rice or 1/2 cup brown rice, par-cooked al dente
- Wedges of fresh lemon
Instructions
- Trim off the root end and remove 1 or 2 tough outer layers of each leek. Cut off just the darkest green top parts, remove the lighter green inside part and slice it and the rest of each leek into 1/4-inch rings. (Wash the trimmed parts and save for soup stock.)
- Place the leek pieces in a colander and wash under cold water, using your hands to separate the rings of leek and stirring to get all the dirt off. If the leeks are particularly dirty, set the strainer of leeks in a bowl of cool water for a few minutes, pull out without stirring up the water and rinse again. Shake off water and set aside to drain well.
- Cut any thick stems off well-washed spinach or chard and dice small. Roughly chop larger leaves. This step is unnecessary if using baby spinach.
- In a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium.
- Set aside about 1 cup of clean sliced leeks.
- Add the rest of the leeks to the hot oil, being careful in case any water splatters. Turn the heat down to medium-low and sauté the leeks until just softened without browning, about 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir sliced garlic into the leeks and cook until fragrant and softened, about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring several times so neither the garlic nor the leeks brown.
- Add the broth and bay leaves. Turn heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
- When the soup is boiling, stir in the rice. Let come back to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer and cover. Let simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is soft and flavors are blended. While the soup simmers, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in a sauté pan over medium heat.
- Add the reserved cup of leeks and cook until they turn crispy and golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Take them off the heat a little before they are completely cooked as they will continue to darken in the oil. Set pan aside.
- Take bay leaves out of the soup, then stir in the chopped spinach or chard.
- Bring the soup back to a simmer and let cook just until the greens are soft, about 10 minutes for spinach, 15 to 20 minutes for chard.
- Taste and add salt and pepper as desired. To serve, garnish each bowl with the crispy leeks, a drizzle of leek oil and a wedge of lemon for each person to squeeze into their bowl of soup.
Notes
Make sure to listen to Susan and Sarah's episode 154 Savor! An Interactive Celebration of Sephardic Culture Through Food & Music while making your soup!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Main, Soups
- Cuisine: Mexican, Sephardic, Spanish
Nutrition
- Calories: 373
- Sugar: 6
- Sodium: 2.701
- Fat: 20
- Saturated Fat: 3
- Carbohydrates: 41
- Fiber: 4
- Protein: 11
- Cholesterol: 14