MUSHROOM FLORENTINE SOUP

GEORGE STELLA'S MUSHROOM FLORENTINE SOUP
1 tablespoon butter
6 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 1/2 cups beef broth *
2 tablespoons dry white wine, optional
2 ounces fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped, about 4 cups loosely packed
1/2 cup heavy cream, room temperature

Saut?the mushrooms, onion, garlic and seasonings in butter in a large saucepan until lightly browned, 5 minutes. Add the broth and wine; cook on high heat until reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and put half of the soup in a small, deep bowl. Puree the soup in the bowl with a stick blender. The mushrooms may get caught a bit in the blender blades, but keep going and they'll eventually all end up in the soup. Return the puree to the pot and heat until the soup is hot. Stir in the spinach and cream; heat through just a minute or so and serve at once.

Makes 2-3 servings
Freezing not recommended

* I used a 14 ounce can of beef broth and added water to equal 2 1/2 cups. I didn't have any wine so I left it out.

Per 1/2 Recipe: 317 Calories; 28g Fat; 8g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 5g Net Carbs
Per 1/3 Recipe: 211 Calories; 19g Fat; 6g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs

This soup isn't pretty, but it tastes very nice. It's a bit like cream of mushroom soup with spinach added. In fact, if you want mushroom soup, just leave out the spinach and puree the whole pot. Or, you could add other vegetables instead of spinach, but they should be cooked until soft first. Leftover vegetables such as zucchini or broccoli would be ideal. This makes 2 very large servings and you could easily get 3 first course servings.

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