So after being around Epic’s awesome creations, I decided to expand my cooking skills. With Twilight being the “big thing” right now, what better to cook than Anti-Vampire Soup. I renamed it “Anti-Sparkle Vampire” Soup to upset my 11-year-old daughter that thinks Edward is “soooo cute”.
This recipe is going to take some time as it calls for roasted garlic and crock pot cooking. Making it with minced garlic seriously takes away from the wonderful garlic/olive oil blend from roasting. Around my house, as the smells start mixing, the 3-year-old starts standing in the kitchen with a smirk as he knows what’s about to happen…..
"Mom, I know what you're doing!"
Start out by preheating the oven to 400 degrees f (200 degrees c). While waiting for it to warm, cut the tops of the garlic heads.
Place the garlic in a oven-safe dish and drizzle garlic with olive oil. Place dish in oven and roast garlic for 40 minutes.
This gives you the perfect prep time for all your other chopped/grated items while waiting for your garlic to roast. Chop your leeks, onion, carrots and potatoes and grate your cheeses while waiting for the garlic.
In a large pot, saute leeks and onion in the butter until they are soft. Once soft, add 2 cups chicken stock, potatoes and carrots and simmer until tender.
By now, the garlic is ready to come out of the oven. Let the garlic cool about 10 minutes. Squeeze the garlic cloves to remove the skins. The garlic will be very soft so squeeze gently.
Add the garlic and the last 2 cups of stock to the pot and let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Once everything has simmered for 10 to 15 minutes, you’re going to use either a blender or an immersion blender to cream everything in the pot. As everything is going through the blender, make sure that it is smooth as it comes out. If you notice that there isn’t enough liquid in the blender for everything to blend easily, add a little cream to the blender.
As the mixture smooths out, add it to the crock pot. Your going to notice that it has a wonderful, creamy consistency. If it does not, your soup will be lumpy. It is ok to be lumpy but I prefer creamy texture over a lumpy texture – more pleasing to the palate.
After everything is blended and added to the crock pot, you’re going to add whatever cream is left over, the spinach as well as 1/2 cup of parmesan and 1/2 cup of mozzarella.
Cook the soup on high for 4 hours. Check on the soup as you see fit and look at the consistency to see if there is enough cheese in the mixture for your liking. I prefer more cheese and at 2 hours I add the rest of the mozzarella.
After 4 hours, turn the crock pot to warm and serve. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan on top for a wonderful finish. This soup goes great with a nice crusty bread like Italian or day old French bread.
Bon Appétit!
I want to thank Sunny (AKA the Podmatez) for her generous contribution to Epic Epicure. I could think of no one else to debut as a guest chef, and as always, she has never let me down. As always, the recipe will be posted on the sister site. If you would like to be a guest chef, you can contact me at EpicEpicure@gmail.com with your idea.
