Broccoli and Stilton soup

An old favourite! I thought this would be a fitting way to use my recently-harvested "Matsuri" broccoli. One head of broccoli (especially a miniature one like "Matsuri") doesn't make much of a meal on its own, so I bulked it up with a head of calabrese from our weekly Abel and Cole veg box.

Miniature broccoli "Matsuri"



In this soup, the broccoli is paired with one of England's best, and most well-known, cheeses - Stilton. This is a fairly hard, salty blue cheese ideal for adding flavour and texture to a soup.

Here's my recipe (I'm sure there are many other ones like it!)

Ingredients:

Two small heads of broccoli, including peeled stems, cut into large pieces.

One onion, peeled and chopped.

Approx 30g Stilton cheese, rind removed, chopped into 1cm pieces.

Half a litre of stock (vegetable or chicken).

Approx 25ml vegetable oil.

Method:

Cook the broccoli in a pan of water, until just tender (approx 3 minutes).

Drain the broccoli and set aside.

Using the same pan (rinsed), soften the onion in a little vegetable oil until translucent but not brown.

Add the stock and bring to the boil; simmer for approx 5 minutes to ensure onions are fully cooked.

Turn off heat and allow the pan to cool for a few minutes.

Place the broccoli in a food-processor and add the onion + stock mixture.

Blend until desired texture is reached (I don't like mine too smooth).

Return mixture to pan and reheat gently for a few minutes.
Turn off the heat.

Add the cheese and allow to slowly melt in the residual heat, stirring occasionally.

At serving time, reheat soup and season to taste. Serve accompanied by crusty bread. Your soup will look something like this:



Unfortunately, during cooking the broccoli loses some of its vibrant green colour, and the cheese tones down the colour as well, but what this soup lacks in colour it makes up for in taste. 

Enjoy!