Broccoli and Cheese Soup
It is getting colder and more stormy everyday. Today it rained, stormed and I came home after a long day of working being half frozen and soaked to the bone. And I guess it is one of those nights where you are just longing for sweatpants and comfort food: hearty, nutritious and maybe a bit fatty. Cheese is the best comfort food! But of course you also want to keep it healthy and thus combine it with a vegetable. This soup basically gives you the best of both worlds and is the perfect thing to warm you up!
Broccoli has always been one of my favourite vegetable (after spinach, tomatoes and bell peppers), especially combined with cheese, broccoli tastes simply wonderful.
In addition to that it is a large source of Vitamin C, which supports our resistence. And of course that is very important with this cold weather.
Ingredients for 8 servings:
- 50 grams of butter
- 1 cup of milk
- 1/2 cup of flour
- 250 grams of grated cheese
- 1,5 litres of vegetable stock
- 800 grams of broccoli
- 1 table spoon of nutmeg
- salt and pepper according to taste
- Preheat the oven on 200 degrees celsius
- Chop the tops of your broccoli and place it on an oiled baking sheet. Sprinkle some oil on top and season with the salt and pepper.
- Roast the broccoli in the oven for approximately 10 minutes
- In the meantime, melt the butter in the pan
- Add the flour and stir until all the butter is taken up by it
- Add the milk in little splashes and keep stirring until a smooth roux is formed
- Add the cheese bit by bit and stir until all of it is melted. Add some salt, pepper and the nutmeg
- While constantly stirring, add the stock to it in small bits and keep stirring until a boinling point is achieved
- Turn down the flame and let the soup simmer for a while
- While the broccoli is roasted, add it to the soup and let it cook for approximately 10 minutes (although you might want to keep some pieces apart for garnish). Stir repeatedly.
- Blend the soup with an immersion blender and serve in bowls
- Serve the soup in bowls. You can top it up with some extra cheese if you want or some tips of roasted broccoli.
