Nothing beats freshly harvested, lightly cooked broccoli (see my Basic Broccoli recipe), but once in a while my family temporarily loses its broccoli enthusiasm, or at least fails to keep up with the supply. This soup dresses broccoli up in a new and exciting way, and it also freezes and stores quite well for a winter antidote to the beige meal creep.

I have also found myself digging this recipe out at the end of the season, when broccoli florets are small but tender stalks are plenty. It’s a great comfort food when the cooler, shorter days are relentlessly marching toward a winter of unknown duration, and much better for my body than some other comfort food alternatives.

As with almost all soups, the quantities listed are fairly rough and I aim for ballpark figures. A little more potato will give a starchier but smoother taste, a little more broccoli will give it more texture, and more onion and garlic will please some people and put off others.

I have an immersion blender, so that’s what I use to blend it a bit, but before I had one I would have tried just hand mashing a recipe like this. Try it if you want, but it might be interesting in a bad way. You could also make this soup much smoother by batch transferring it to a blender. I don’t think I will ever do that, and if I ever found a recipe where that was truly necessary I would run in the other direction – it’s just too many dishes and too much hot liquid being moved around (and too many ankle-biters getting in the way!)

Broccoli Cheese Soup

From the Garden:

• Broccoli
• Potato
• Garlic
• Onion
• Pepper flakes
• Chives

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Best Season: Fall

Ingredients

Servings

• 3 tablespoons Unsalted butter
• 1-2 Onions (White or yellow)
• 4-6 cloves Garlic
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoons Red pepper flakes
• 1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons Sea salt
• 2-3 pounds Broccoli (Don't include any woody parts)
• 1 Peeled potato (Any colour)
• 6 cups Water
• 1 ¹⁄₂ cups Grated cheddar cheese
• Chives (Optional, garnish)

Instructions

1. Prep

   Chop the onion and garlic into small pieces. 

   Separately, chop the potato and the broccoli into small pieces. If necessary, peel stalks first (usually only needed if stalks are quite thick). Reserve 1 cup of broccoli florets, very finely chopped.

2. Cook the veggies

   Melt the butter in whatever you like to cook soup in (on the stovetop) over medium-low heat. Add onions, garlic, pepper flakes, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent. 

3. Add in the potato and broccoli (not the reserved florets), and cover everything with 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil (turn up the heat), then bring back down to a simmer (turn the heat back down), and cook until the potato and broccoli are soft (about 20 minutes).  

4. Puree

   Carefully blend the soup with an immersion blender. 

   It's a good idea to turn off the stove and remove the pot, but at the very least be really aware of where any cords may be resting, any little fingers that may be reaching to pull those cords, and where any hot liquid might be splashing. It wouldn't be that ridiculous to also wear skin and eye protection at this step. 

5. Finish

   If you had taken it off the heat, return the pot to the stove at medium-low heat. Add the reserved florets back to the pot. Stir in the cheddar cheese. Taste and add any necessary salt, pepper, or additional pepper flakes. Garnish with additional (or reserved) cheese and chives.