Okay okay. When your partner says: ‘We eat broccoli soup tonight’ you don’t think straight away you’ll have the best meal of the week. It sounds rather boring, and if one doesn’t like broccoli either, you seriously think you are in trouble (and rush to book a restaurant for yourself). But the thing is: you are not in trouble! The Mister absolutely hates broccoli, but he likes this soup! A soup that actually tastes and smells quite a bit like broccoli. But nicer. How is that possible? I don’t know! But it’s a good solution to eat your super healthy green vegetables such as broccoli in a soup. One way or another this recipe is so nice, hearty and tasty! Especially if you finish off with some toppings, for example garlic bread croutons, basil, walnuts, feta cheese, smoked chicken or Prosciutto.

Did you know? Broccoli is full of antioxidants, calcium, vitamine C, folic acid, fibres and bèta-caroteen. It’s good for cel division, digestion and there are people that claim that eating lots of broccoli can avoid – in some cases – cancer and cardiovascular disorders

Ingredients

Serves 4
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
1 red chili pepper, chopped (optional)
knop of butter (about 10 gram)
550-600 gram brocoli, divided the the florets (roughly chopped) and the stump (chopped in smaller cubes)
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped in cubes
850-1000 ml chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
125 ml crème fraîche (sour cream)
handful of basil, roughly chopped
1 slice of feta, crumbled or chopped
handful of chopped raw walnuts
(garlic) bread croutons
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional, only if you like spicy)
freshly ground pepper
salt

optional variation for serving:
smoked chicken fillet strips
Italian ham like Parma or Prosciutto
smoked salmon strips
Roquefort cheese
bread or a cheese puff pastry twist, for serving

Method

Prepare and warm your chicken or vegetable stock. Roughly chop your onion, garlic, chili (optional), broccoli and potatoes.
Heat a pan over medium fire with the butter and sauté the onion + garlic for about 4 minutes, until soft. Add the (optional) chilli in the end, too. Then add the chopped broccoli and potato and stir in for a minute. Pour in the stock, add cayenne pepper (optional) and cook for about 10-14 minutes until the broccoli and the potato are al dente but not too soft. Purée the soup in a minute (or two) until smooth. Add sour cream, pepper and salt to taste, and purée again so it all blend well.

In the meanwhile roughly chop your walnuts, feta cheese and basil leaves. Prepare your garlic croutons (if you make them yourself).

Taste your soup and add more seasoning if necessary. Serve warm in bowls and garnish with basil, walnuts, feta and garlic croutons. Optional you can serve it with some bread and butter, or a cheese puff pastry twist from the oven.

Variation tip:
It’s can be also nice to finish off the soup with some Parma ham or Prosciutto, blue cheese + walnuts, salmon or smoked chicken instead of the basil, feta and croutons.

Bon Appétit!

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Broccoli soup with crispy croutons, feta cheese and basil. 
Broccoli soup with cayenne pepper and raw walnuts.

Broccoli soup with crispy Prosciutto, basil and walnuts.