Broccoli...Mmmmmm.....

With all the awesomeness going on at the farm markets around town, I end up with a hankering for fresh, bright foods in the summer.  Which is fabulous because they have plenty of things to choose from to fit the bill on those scores.  I mean...doesn't the thought of taking this...

And turning it into a meal for your WHOLE family just make you happy??  It makes me completely giddy and...as one friend put it, I feel like "a domestic Goddess".

A couple weeks back a reader sent me a recipe....and I am pretty sure, although she claimed it to be her broccoli soup recipe, that I saw Gordon Ramsay make it on an episode of Kitchen Nightmares.  I did a search for that episode and couldn't find it, but you can watch Gordon make it on YouTube just to give you an idea how ridiculously easy this soup is.  I can tell you right now it is hands down the BEST broccoli soup I've ever had, and I wager that nothing will ever top it for me...ever.

Gordon Ramsay's Broccoli Soup
2 heads of broccoli, fresh and very green
2 T. of salt
5 qts. water
goat cheese, sliced
whole, shelled walnuts
salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
drizzle with olive oil if desired

Cut the florets off the heads of broccoli. Cut the stems into similarly sized pieces. Add all of the broccoli, florets and stems, into a pot of rapidly-boiling, salted water (2 tablespoons salt in 5 quarts of water). Cover and cook 3.5 to 4 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, put the cooked broccoli pieces into a blender. Fill blender about halfway with cooking liquid; blend carefully since it's hot. Add more cooking liquid as necessary to achieve the desired consistency. Check seasonings.

 

If desired, add walnuts to bottom of the bowl and top with slices of goat cheese (goat cheese or cheddar cheese) then pour the soup in. Serve, drizzled with olive oil if desired.

Three different sized bowls, three different ways of dressing it up but one AWESOME bowl of broccoli soup.  Blanching the broccoli in the salted water just made it taste like broccoli on buttered steroids.  I had a smidge before I pureed it up and it tasted like heaven.  With a tiny bit of sea salt and fresh cracked pepper it tasted like a soup from a 5 star restaurant.  The comfort in knowing that I was giving my family nothing more than pureed broccoli with lightly salted water was truly gratifying.  Everyone loved it, there wasn't a lick left in anyone's bowl.  My Mister claimed the leftovers for dinner the next night (leftover night).

If you have a busy night coming up and but you still want to make sure you get something healthy on the table quickly, give this soup a whirl.  It literally took me less than 5 minutes to make and I promise you, it will leave everyone asking for MORE!

*We are a mostly dairy-free bunch here, so I used shredded cheddar flavored soy cheese and my Mister isn't fond of any kind of nuts, so I omitted those for an addition we BOTH love...bacon.  I also made a lemon cream peppercorn sauce for the top, but I didn't follow a recipe and I don't recall everything I did....sorry.  That's truly a first.  I blame it on brain surgery recovery #2. 

For a dairy free option use:

1 c. shredded cheddar flavored soy cheese

3 strips of bacon, fried and coarsely chopped

Place cheese on soup and sprinkle with chopped bacon.  Our 2.5 year old even loved that!  Happy cooking!