Broccoli and Stilton soup

Now, I know that in the eyes of  British readers, Broccoli and Stilton soup may perhaps be seen as "old hat", but that doesn't stop it being nice - and I wonder how many people make their own rather than just buying it in a carton?? Besides, I know that many of my blog readers are NOT British, so I'm going to write about an old favourite of mine anyway...

This soup is a really simple to make but produces results that are way out of proportion to the effort required.

This is my recipe:-

Broccoli and Stilton Soup (serves 2)

Ingredients:
1 x large onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 x head of Calabrese-style broccoli, cut into small florets
1 x litre of stock (preferably vegetable, or chicken)
About 100g Stilton (or other similar) blue cheese, crumbled
2 x cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

 Method:

• Cook the onion over a gentle heat until soft and transparent, but not brown
• Add the garlic and cook for another two minutes, taking care that the garlic doesn't burn
• Add the stock and broccoli, bring to the boil and simmer until the broccoli is tender (approx 15 mins?)
• Reserve a couple of small (cooked) florets for garnish
• Remove from heat and allow to cool for five minutes
• Blitz the mixture in a food-processor until desired texture is achieved (I like soup not too smooth)
• Return liquidized mixture to the pan and add the cheese
• Bring the mixture slowly back up to the boil and simmer until the cheese is melted, stirring occasionally
• Season to taste (you probably won't need much salt, as the cheese is salty already
• Garnish with the reserved florets
• Serve immediately or allow to cool and reheat later

As you can see, with the addition of the cheese the soup takes on a rather dull colour, very different to the bright green of the raw broccoli. This is why I felt it necessary to add the little broccoli florets as a garnish. [Actually - for the benefit of all you soup-photographers out there - the garnish gives your camera something definite to focus on. The plain surface of the soup may not be enough.]



I don't care what colour it comes out though - the taste is more important, and believe you me this one is a stunner! Rich, salty, savoury - umami even.

By the way, I'm currently on a bit of a mission to narrow the gap between Gardening bloggers (of the veggie variety mainly) and the Foodie bloggers. Some of you Gardening Bloggers out there ought to write more about how you cook you home-grown produce, and some of you Foodie Bloggers ought to write more about where your food comes from - especially if it is from your own garden or Allotment!

This is why today I'm putting in a plug for these two:-

The UK Food Bloggers Association (3314 members) and

UK Veg Gardeners (862 members)

I am am member of both of these and I think they are great online forums. Although their names imply that all their members live in the UK, I can see that this is not the case, so don't be put off if you don't live in the UK.