The weather has finally shifted and the dry, crisp autumn air means it’s time to dig out my stock pot.  Nothing’s better than putting up a pot of soup on a Saturday morning.  You can enjoy it over the weekend and still have some left over for the work week.  I have several “go to” soup recipes that are easy, healthful, and freeze well.  One was given to me by a friend; another I found in a magazine.  But my spinach soup recipe comes from the first cookbook I ever bought, The Regional Italian Kitchen by Nika Hazelton.

I’d just gotten my first place on my own.  The apartment was a studio with a galley kitchen smaller than the average bathroom. There was barely enough room for my dishes, let alone for a cookbook, so it got wedged between two college texts on a book shelf in the main room.

That was a long time ago.  Now la cucina has a dedicated bookcase for my ever-growing collection of cookbooks.  Yet The Regional Italian Kitchen remains one of my most frequently used cookbooks, just as the spinach soup remains one of my all-time favorite recipes.  This flavorful soup can stand alone, or you can add a small chewy pasta like orzo or ditalini.

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