Deliciousness - Spinach and goat cheese soup

That's one of the yummiest soups I have ever tried. It is so yummy that during the last two weeks I have cooked it something like 3 times. My illustrator and ceramist friend Ana Bossa taught me to prepare it with all little tricks to make a real treat for those long, cold and dark winter evenings.

This kind of soup is based on traditional Portuguese "refogado". It is only one of the fabulous dishes from Portuguese region called Alentejo - one of the hottest zones in Portugal, where the temperature in summer goes up to 45ºC or more - that's where my friend Ana grew up. This region is full of white houses decorated with some black hatted old men. You can join the preparation of this soup by listening to this great music sang by traditional singers from Alentejo, so called Cante alentejano:

Vozes do Sul with Janita Salomé - "Meu Alentejo querido"

Pedro Mestre - Armou-se uma trovoada

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So here is the super simple recipe, that takes around 1 hour to get to your table.
This quantity satisfies 4 serious eaters

You will need:

200 g of spinach

200 g of cured goat cheese

6 medium size potatoes

4 eggs

1 onion

1 whole garlic (preferably a big one)

120 ml olive oil

3 piri-piri peppers

1 tablespoon of paprika powder 

a pinch of fine sea salt

Cut an onion, smash the cloves of a garlic without taking off the skin, combine piri-piri, paprika, olive oil and put it into a pot. Turn on the stove and leave it cooking for a little while.

Smashing the garlic cloves - leave the skin on!

Smashed garlic should look more or less like this.

The skins on the right side should be thrown away.

Onion cutting

All this alchemy goes to the pot!

Then cut the peeled potatoes into pretty big pieces and add to refogado. Put the spinach. Leave cooking on the low heat during 3 minutes.

You can as well use the skin of potatoes that you've just peeled for soup.

Simply put the skins into a dish suitable for oven, 

spread over a good pinch of fine sea salt and olive oil, 

and put into a pre-heated to 180ºC oven. 

Leave during 20 min until it looks toasted and delicious! 

Take out and accompany the soup or any other meal.

Afterwards start putting cold water. First put 200 ml of water, leave until boiling. Put again 200 ml of water twice (all in all 600ml of water), every time wait until it starts boiling.

Add salt to taste, then smash the eggs into the soup and leave them for cooking.
After the eggs are already done (it takes around 5 minutes), add the cheese cut into little cubes.

You can toast bread by putting it into an oven, 180ºC and leave there until it gets lightly golden.
Serve in the bowls, together with some deliciously toasted white bread.

Everything's so delicious, don't you think? Enjoy! I hope it will conquer your heart as it conquered mine!

Recipe by Ana Bossa aka Murtiga

Text and photos by Egle aka Mosgos
Music adviser - Filipe Raposo