Stracciatella: Egg Drop Soup w/ Spinach

You know why I love soup? You can't mess it up. Well maybe you can, but as of yet I haven't figured out how to. For example this soup was delicious, but I originally put some chicken bits in it that didn't really taste that great (actually I think it was the texture that bothered me). So I just fished them out. Don't worry I washed my hands first. So now I have chicken salad and "Italian egg drop soup." That's what Mark Bittman likened this soup to on the Bitten blog Recipe of the Day post yesterday. I'm not sure what is particularly Italian about it, except for the cheese and the name, but it is a great, comforting soup recipe that comes together in no time at all. Perfect for a cold winter night when you are feeling a little under the weather.

Also, I would like to point out that I one-upped Rachel Ray here, and this was a 15 minute meal, served with Greek salad and a wine someone brought as a hostess gift this weekend that was called "Woop Woop"--I kid you not.

That's all I have to say. I'm all talked out after my long narrative yesterday, which apparently amused a lot of people because it has the most views of any post I've ever written, unless you count the Homemade Pepper Spray post, but I don't because I discovered that people were getting sent to it by Google when they were sincerely trying to figure out how to make Homemade Pepper Spray. Something tells me they didn't stick around for long when they realized I just accidentally sauteed some jalapenos.


Stracciatella
Adapted from Bitten blog

Ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock
1 garlic clove
4 eggs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (I used Romano)
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of ginger
3 to 4 big handfuls of fresh spinach
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
-Put 5 cups of the chicken stock into a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
-Wack the garlic clove with the side of a knife and add that to the stock.
-In a mixing bowl, combine the other cup of chicken stock, the eggs, cheese, nutmeg, and ginger and whisk together until completely combined.
-Cut up the spinach into thin strips.
-When the chicken stock comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium high and add the egg mixture and the spinach and cook until the egg clumps together in small curds and the spinach is wilted.
-Season with salt and pepper and garnish with additional cheese or fresh Italian parsley.