Spinach soup is one of my favorite soups. It is served in Finnish schools as lunch, usually with meat-filled pies and hard-boiled eggs. I have lots of vegetarian friends, and they ask me for recipes. So, this time, I converted this classic soup recipe into something new. To my surprise, I used soy milk instead of regular milk, which worked well. The recipe is in its original form, but I added vegetarian ingredients amounts. Substitute butter and milk with equivalent vegan products to make this completely vegan.

As a side dish, I made Turkish-influenced Böreks. They are snail-like-looking buff pastry rolls which can be filled with different things. Potato, spinach, feta cheese, you name it! My Turkish friends have been making amazing  Böreks for me whenever I visit them, and I have been spying on the dear ladies when they bake. Simple things to do and very tasty!

So here you go. First, the soup recipe and then the Böreks. Enjoy!

Spinach Soup

• 30 g butter
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 medium-sized potatoes or (3 heaped Tbs corn starch or wheat flour to thicken the soup )
• 800 ml milk, preferably full-fat (or as I did this time: 400ml vegetable stock and 400 ml soya milk)
• 150 g frozen chopped spinach (or fresh, then you will need about 500-700g)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp grated nutmeg
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, cut in half

1. Melt the butter in a teflon-coated pan (big enough to hold the whole soup). Don’t let it get brown. Add the chopped-up onion and garlic, and sauté till the onion softens.
2. Add the chopped-up potatoes and vegetable stock and let the soup boil till the potatoes are soft. You might need to add water to cover the potatoes adequately while they boil.
3. When the potatoes are soft, stir in the spinach. (I like using fresh spinach, but frozen is just fine too)Add the milk or the soya milk. Bring the soup to boiling, and puree the soup using an immersion mixer. If your soup looks too thin, mix a little cornstarch with cold water and pour it into the soup, mixing constantly. Cook the soup on mild heat appr. 10 min, mixing once in a while.
4. Serve with half an egg.

Feta Börek

• 1 egg
• 2 rolls of puff pastry
• 400 g good quality Feta cheese

1. Roll out your puff pastry and cut it lengthwise into half. If you want to make thin Böreks, cut the puff pastry strips thinner.
2. In the middle of the puff pastry, crumble your feta.
3. Roll the pastry into a tube form, then roll your Börek in a snail shape. Take care that the seam is underneath when you lay the coil on a baking sheet, otherwise the Feta cheese will run out when you bake this,
4. Paste with egg.
5. Bake in 220c for about 30 minutes. Baking time depends on how big or thick you make your snails. The thicker they are, the longer they will need.