Use it while you have it: yellow squash soup with spinach

 Ciao ragazzi.   Remember that Annalena told you she would be gone last week, and wouldn't be able to post?  Well, she hopes you missed her, and that you had plenty to consider with the recipes she left.  We're back in session this week, and we're working with end of summer produce.  First, we are going to make a vegetarian (but not vegan) soup.

All summer long, we have had "zucchini".    Some of you may think  "at times, that's ALL we had," and yes, they CAN take over a garden, can't they.  But now, we are at the point where, sadly, we will be saying "ciao" to them for about 8 months.
As the careful reader of Annalena's blog knows, "zucchini" just means "small squash."  One of them, is a zucchino.  And while it is more correct to use zucchino/i to refer ONLY to the long, green ones, we have in fact started using the word for all of the summer squashes.  Annalena is not sure how she feels about that.  It is true that, flavor wise, most of the summer squashes taste pretty much the same (in Annalena's mind, cucuzza does not); however, the textures are really different.  We are working today with one of the pattypan/sunburst squashes.  You can get them in green or yellow.  Annalena favors the yellow ones, again for reasons she cannot fathom.  But she does.  So if you have only green, or a mix of yellow or green, use that.  You will also find white ones available, and you can use those too.   You will need 2 pounds for this recipe, but you CAN cut that in half if you are not cooking for an army.   "Size matters" here.  Try to get your squash at the size where about 3 of them weigh a pound.  (You should not need your calculator to figure out:  that's  6):

 You are going to need an equal quantity of potatoes.  We thus, will need 2 pounds, unless you are cutting the recipe in half.  Here, size does not really matter, nor does the type of potato.  Annalena had yukon golds (her favorites) and some Peruvian blues.  You can use a mix, but try not to use ALL blue potatoes, unless you are inordinately fond of blue colored food.  Peel the potatoes, and cut them into chunks.

 You will also need one large (about 12 ounces) white onion.  Again, you can choose a red one if you have it, but don't turn to Vidalia's or any of the sweet ones.  Go smaller, if you're making less soup.  Peel and roughly chop that onion:

 Now, we can begin cooking.  You will want from 1/2-3/4 of a stick of butter, unsalted please, in a big pan.  Melt it, and saute' the onion in it, until it begins to turn white and translucent.  It will happen quickly.  Annalena is weird, but she loves when this happens:

 While that onion is cooking, we are going to make our "stock. " Our stock is a mixture of water and milk.  Your ratio is 3 parts water, to 1 part milk.  The milk should be whole, or 2%.  We will be using 2 cups of milk, and 6 cups of water:

 If Annalena told you most of your work were done, would you believe her?  Well... please cut those squash into chunks, and add them, with the potatoes, to the sauteed onions, and add the milk/water mixture.  You'll cook this, for about 20 minutes.  Milk DOES bubble up, so keep the heat low, and do not cover the pot.  You'll know you're ready for the next step, when the squash and potatoes are so tender that a knife goes right through them:

 How did she get a green soup from those ingredients?  AH.  Now we find out.  You will need 8 ounces of baby spinach.  It is almost impossible to find an 8 ounce portion of baby spinach, unless you wish to take a detour and cook some yourself.  Annalena wishes you well in that case.  She took a package of 10 ounces of baby spinach:

 And then she added them directly to the hot liquid.  The spinach will collapse almost immediately.

 NOW, all you have to do is wait for the soup to cool, and puree it in your blender:

There is sentiment to cook a couple of cups of soup pasta (like pastina, stelline, or ditalini), and add it to the finished soup.  Annalena sees no reason for this, given the quantity of potatoes. She does like to add some dried tomato pesto to it, if she has it.    One thing you MUST do at this point, is taste the soup for salt, because we haven't added any.  We saved it to the end because our flavors here are not strong.  Also, we have just made approximately four quarts of soup.  Your salt preference will be different from the people with whom you will share it.

Soups based on potato and milk do not freeze well, so please plan to share this with friends.  Or have a big dinner party, based on this soup and some pizza, or a quiche, or something along those lines.

We get jaded during the squash season (like during corn season, or tomato season, or peach season, etc).  This is the tale end, ragazzi, and we will be switching to winter squash soon. So, make this while you can.  You will enjoy it.  And if you have picky eaters, they will, too.