Springtime Spinach Vichyssoise

This soup is a variation on traditional vichyssoise, a cold potato-leek soup. It is a perfect soup for springtime when spinach and wild leeks are flourishing and winter-storage root vegetables are still available. It goes well with chilled Sauvignon Blanc.

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 cooking onions, chopped
• 8 wild leeks, white and green parts, chopped (or 2 regular leeks, sliced)
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 celery stalk, sliced
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• tsp nutmeg
• 4 cups water
• 3 medium white potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 8 cups spinach, chopped
• 1 cup half & half cream
• 1 tbsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• Sour cream (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot on low heat.
2. Add onions, leeks, carrots, celery, mushrooms, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
3. Sweat the ingredients for about 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft and have released their juices.
4. Add water and potatoes to the soup pot.
5. Turn heat to high and bring soup to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Add spinach and simmer for another 5 minutes.
7. Remove soup from heat and add cream and lemon juice, as well as a pinch more salt to taste.
8. Refrigerate soup and serve chilled with a dollop of sour cream.