Creamy broccoli soup

Remember my shopping trip to Siewierz? To the best greengrocer’s in the world? I wrote about it in my recipe for spicy barley-stuffed cabbage rolls. By the way, they turned out very, very nicely, as my family confirmed. Everyone appreciated the little kick you got every now and then. That’s good. They weren’t hot, you see, there was just that pleasant bit of heat once in a while.

Well, over a week ago now, I bought an enormous head of broccoli in that shop. Its time had come. But it was so big that if I’d used the whole thing for my creamy broccoli soup, I could have fed an entire squadron.

So half the broccoli has been trimmed and is waiting to learn its fate. Maybe I’ll make a broccoli tart? I’ve got blue cheese. And that tart is outstanding, honestly 🙂 Tomorrow at the earliest, though. I’m eating out today, so broccoli soup will do nicely as “lunch” before what will probably turn into a hefty dinner at Gessler’s.

Anyway, I didn’t have much time to make this soup. I promise that one day I’ll give you a more “involved” broccoli soup, one that doesn’t necessarily start with a stock cube. This one is incredibly simple, perhaps not terribly sophisticated, but it’s a pleasure to make and goes without a hitch. Downright primitive. No need to fuss over cutting the vegetables precisely. Basically, everything goes into the pot and hey presto. Done.

There are chillies in this soup (as you probably know, I’ve plenty of those after my trip to Siewierz). They give it that gentle heat I really like. If you’re allergic or just don’t like them, leave them out. Give it a try.

At a glance: 

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4–6, depending on portion size

Calories: zero calories, loads of vegetables

Ingredients for a simple broccoli and vegetable soup:

• half a large head of broccoli (or one “supermarket-sized” head)
• 3 small shallots
• 3 pieces of different-coloured chilli (yellow, orange and red – about 3 cm – leave out if you don’t want any heat)
• half a small carrot
• half a small parsley root
• a few fresh basil leaves
• 3 cloves of garlic
• two stock cubes (I used beef stock, but use vegetable stock if you’re vegetarian)
• ground black pepper
• dried rosemary
• salt to taste
• 18% fat sour cream (the thick kind for soups)

Recipe for broccoli soup:

I diced the vegetables (the carrot, parsley root, chillies and shallots). In a pot I brought about 1.2 litres of water to the boil and dissolved two stock cubes in it (if you can, it’s best to make your own stock or use clear broth as the base). I added the vegetables and the whole peeled garlic cloves and cooked them for about 10 minutes.

Then I added the broccoli (almost all florets, without the tough stalks). In the photo below you can see what the soup looks like at this stage. I tossed in 6 fresh basil leaves. I added a little ground black pepper and dried rosemary to taste and salted it lightly.

I cooked it for another 15–20 minutes or so, until the broccoli was tender. I let it cool briefly, then blended everything thoroughly with a hand blender. It’s not one of those typically very thick puréed soups. I heated it up again briefly and that was it. I served it with a dollop of sour cream. Enjoy!