Broccoli and kale soup with Stilton toast – a simple, tasty and vibrant recipe to get you through winter!
Hey! How are you all doing this week? Better than me, I hope. Nope, I am not unwell… what I am, is buried in paperwork. Tax return, passport renewal and another kind of big deal thing have all coincided to create the perfect storm. I don’t think there’s anything I dislike more than paperwork other than spreadsheets (and the two often go hand in hand). Add January to this equation with the dull, super cold weather and you have one miserable me. When I manage to get on top of this bureaucracy and paperwork mountain I will celebrate BIG. Keep your fingers crossed for me, will ya?
Anyway paperwork and creativity don’t really go hand in hand – unless you count avoiding paperwork by doing creative stuff which is my way of procrastinating! I made this quick soup for my lunch to keep me going while logging endless receipts into a spreadsheet… and then took a massive detour by photographing said soup for the blog. Oh well, you can reap the benefits and my accountant can keep on tearing his hair out (poor guy). I have vowed to be more organised in 2017 – bought a lovely Busy B diary that so far has been very helpful as I love making lists. Needless to say I am not terribly good at keeping on top of them…
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I was making broccoli and Stilton soup when I realised that I didn’t have enough broccoli or cheese. So this ended up a riff on the classic soup with kavolo nero making up for lack of broccoli. And instead of adding the cheese in the soup I spread it on sourdough and grilled it. Put the two together and you have a yummy lunch!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp rapeseed canola oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 large leek finely chopped
- 1 medium potato peeled and diced
- 1 litre | 4 cups hot vegetable stock
- 350 g | 10 1/2oz broccoli roughly chopped
- 150 | 5.3oz cavolo nero or kale ribs removed, roughly chopped
- freshly ground black pepper to season
- fresh cress to garnish optional
- For the toast
- 200 g | 7oz Stilton or other blue cheese crumbled
- 4 slices sourdough bread
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot and then add the onions. Cook on a medium-low heat until soft, about 7 minutes.
- Add the leek, potato and cook for 5 minutes.
- Pour in the stock and add the broccoli. Bring to a rolling simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes until all the vegetables are fork tender.
- Add the cavolo and cook for a further 5 minutes with the lid on.
- Transfer to a blender and blitz until smooth. Season with a little black pepper. Don't worry if the soup is a bit bland as the Stilton toast is quite salty and will make up for it.
- Mix the cheese with the olive oil and spread over the bread slices. Place on a roasting tray with a grill rack and put under a hot grill (broiler) until the cheese melts. Keep an eye on the toast as the cheese can go from melty to burned quite quickly. Top the toast with a little fresh cress.
- Serve the soup with a piece of toast on the side for dipping.
Sara Khan says
Looks great! Can I use spinach instead of kale? Or any other substitute?
Lucy Parissi says
Yes you can use spinach instead of kale!
Christine @ Yum and in Love says
Accidental recipes are sometimes the best recipes! I’m totally with you- it seems like December is so chill and quiet and all the sudden real life kicks back in come January and it’s also cold and I’m not ready and I just need a nap. Thanks for this yummy looking soup!