Compared to our main blog, this one's been a bit neglected. That's about to change! Fall and the beginning of winter have presented us with opportunities to try out some new recipes, and we've found some real winners. I, for one, like getting recipe recommendations from other people. So I'll try my best to put good recipe karma out there.
Our first contestant hails from the site of News Channel 34 in Binghamton, NY. Nothing special about Binghamton, necessarily--it just came up when I Googled "risotto soup." Risotto is one of my favorite foods. The faculty sponsors from our year in Heidelberg first introduced us to real risotto (Dr. Love's risotto became quite famous in our house). This was my first experiement, however, with risotto soup. Mark had caught a cold, it was cold outside, and I didn't want to go to the grocery story to pick up any ingredients. So this was as close as I could get to the chicken soup that the doctor ordered--minus the chicken and plus the spinach and rice. Mark's sniffles are a little better, so it must have done the trick.

Fresh Spinach and Risotto Soup

Ingredients
1 1/2 lb.fresh spinach, rinsed and chopped
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1 c. risotto rice
5 c. vegetable stock, low sodium*
1/4 c. grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
freshly ground pepper to taste
red pepper flakes

Directions
Heat oil in large saucepan and gently cook the onion and garlic until softened. Stir in rice until well coated, then pour in stock. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for ten minutes. Add the spinach and season to taste with ground black pepper and red pepper flakes. Cook for 5-7 minutes more, until the rice is tender. Adjust seasoning as needed. Serve with grated cheese.

*I used chicken stock