Broccoli Soup

Prep Time: 0:15
Cook Time: 0:15
Serves: 4

Ingredients / Shopping List

2 broccoli heads
1 onion
25g rapeseed oil
1 ltr vegetable stock
Seasoning
1 tsp flour
clove garlic (opt)

To serve: 
50g cheese
(Stilton or Lancs)

 

Prep to Cook:  Large pan, vegetable knife, chopping board, long handled spoon, measuring jug

Prep:

Cut the broccoli into florets removing the thick stalks.

Chop the thick stalks into small chunks.

Peel and dice the onion into small pieces.

Gently sauté the onion in the rapeseed oil until it is softened but not browned.

Stir in the teaspoon of flour.

Add the broccoli and mix well.

Pour in the stock – either vegetable or chicken unless it is for vegetarians.

Season the soup well with black pepper and salt.

Drop in the clove of garlic but remove it prior to blending.

Simmer for 15 minutes.

Test the pieces of broccoli are soft and cooked.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Blend with a hand blender in the pan.

Taste again to check the seasoning.

Serve sprinkled with crumbled cheese and buttered toast.

 

Check it out!

Broccoli soup is a thick and healthy purée soup.  It is easy to make and when sprinkled with cheese and served with crisp toast it becomes a winter starter or main meal.

Recipe Science

Cooks Know How:  Making a soup using fresh vegetables is important when learning to cook.  The cooking methods involved are sauté followed by simmering and the food preparation skills are slicing, dicing and blending.  All these are important to get the perfect soup.  Sautéing the  onions brings out their flavour and to sweeten the onions.  Simmer the broccoli to tenderise it.  Stock is an important ingredient in the soup and if possible this should be homemade from leftover vegetables.  Using stock cubes is another way but take care the salt content is not too high. Taste the stock before you add it to the soup.  2 stock cubes in a litre of water is adequate.  Add extra ingredients such as sprig of thyme or a clove of garlic.  Remove these before you blend the soup.  Use a hand stick blender in the pan to purée the soup.Take care when doing this. The crumbled cheese can be stirred into the soup or sprinkled over.