On a cold winters evening, for me, there's nothing better than a freshly made soup, and my go-to is Broccoli and Stilton. Here's my quick and easy Broccoli and Stilton soup recipe whipped up in around 20 minutes and packed with flavour.
Plus we'll take a look at why broccoli, an incredibly nutrient-dense vegetable needs to be a firm staple in your weekly shopping basket. Plus I'll share some yummy ideas for roasting it as a snack and frying it into a quick stir fry.
Quick And Easy
Broccoli And Stilton Soup
Serves 2
20 minutes
Ingredients
1 head of broccoli (chopped into bite-size florets)
1 onion (chopped)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
100g stilton cheese
750ml vegetable stock
Pinch of salt and pepper
Dash of olive oil
To Serve:
2 tbsp pine nuts
Sourdough (I love rye sourdough)
Method
Sweat the onions and garlic in a pan with a dash of olive oil for 5 minutes
Add the vegetable stock, and stir for 1 minute
Add the broccoli florets, cover and simmer for 7 minutes
Crumble in 80g of the stilton
Blitz with a hand blender or in food processor
Season to taste (remember Stilton is already salty)
Serve
Serve over 2 bowls, with the remaining 20g stilton crumbled on top and a tbsp of pine nuts over each dish. Lightly toasted sourdough makes for a great edible spoon too!
Delicious! P.S. Check out these soup bowls by Le Creuset, this Broccoli and Stilton soup would look banging in these, I might have to add to my already over-crowded Le Creuset collection!
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Did you know?
There are over 20 varieties of broccoli! My personal favourites are purple sprouting and calabrese. It's calabrese that you'll find on most supermarket shelves; the chunky tree looking kind, and that's what I use in this recipe. It's worth noting that purple sprouting broccoli has a much stronger flavour than calabrese.
How do you cook yours?
Other than boiling like in this soup, how else do you cook Broccoli? Here are my favourites:
Roast
Whether it's a side dish, snack, or the hero in a veg traybake, roasting broccoli is a super easy method of cooking it. Here's how I enjoy roasted broccoli: Toss broccoli florets in a little avocado oil, sliced garlic, and some chilli flakes, roast at 200 degrees Celsius for around 10-12 minutes, serve sprinkled with sea salt flakes. Yum!
Fry
High heats and small florets work best for frying to get the best flavour. Here's how I enjoy broccoli in a stir fry: Heat avocado oil in a pan, cook spring onion, garlic and chilli for 1 minute, add broccoli florets, baby corn, red pepper and mangetout, fry all on high heat for 6 minutes, add a handful of beansprouts, a dash of sesame oil and a glug of soy. Finally, throw in a handful of spinach till wilted and serve.
What's the science behind broccoli and its benefits?
According to Dr Rupy Auja of The Daily Doctors Kitchen and his book '3 2 1', broccoli is thought to be able to support detoxification by your organs, (the ability of your organs to deal with waste products). Organs such as your liver, (which converts waste and toxins into excretable products), depend on micronutrients and phytonutrients found in foods such as broccoli, to carry out their functions.
When chewed, broccoli releases anti-cancer compounds such as indoles and isothiocyanates. If these two reasons alone don't get you on your supermarket app right now adding broccoli to the list, then let's throw in a few more reasons to shop...
Broccoli is packed with fibre, benefiting your microbiota which helps digest your food and regulate your immune system. Broccoli is packed with antioxidants which can neutralise cell damage from free radicals, (free radicals are unstable molecules that are produced in the body naturally as a by-product of metabolism or by exposure to toxins in the environment such as tobacco smoke and ultraviolet light), and reduce inflammation*.
Nutrient breakdown of Broccoli
According to Healthline*:
One cup (91 grams) of raw broccoli packs:
Carbs: 6 grams
Protein: 2.6 gram
Fat: 0.3 grams
Fibre: 2.4 grams
Vitamin C: 135% of the RDI
Vitamin A: 11% of the RDI
Vitamin K: 116% of the RDI
Vitamin B9 (Folate): 14% of the RDI
Potassium: 8% of the RDI
Phosphorus: 6% of the RDI
Selenium: 3% of the RDI
After real organic veg?
I grab some fruit and veg from Tesco, Ocado or Sainsbury's on occasion, but more recently, I try to buy from organic farms and farm services direct. I've just discovered and absolutely love Riverford.
Riverford believes that:
"...amazing veg has the power to change lives and the world around us."
Here's a snippet from Riverford.co.uk about what they do:
Instead of selecting fruit and veg varieties for their high yields, and pushing them on with artificial fertilisers, we focus on taste above all else. After decades of growing, we believe in the pursuit of four simple rules for flavoursome veg:
Look after your soil, and it will look after the crop.
Choose the right variety – all carrots were not created equal!
Grow it in the right conditions – slowly, naturally, letting the flavour develop.
Eat it fresh from the farm.
Fancy £15 off a veg box at Riverford? Click any of the 'Riverford' links on this page to get it (we'll both get £15 off)!
So will you be adding more Broccoli to your plate from now on?
There are no green vegetables that I don't enjoy when cooked well, yet broccoli is up there as one of my favourites along with spinach and asparagus (my mouth is watering now).
How will you be adding broccoli to your plate next? Will it be via the quick and easy broccoli and stilton soup recipe on this page, or perhaps one of the other suggestions on here, or do you have your own creation in mind? Feel free to share it with me and my new food-based Instagram profile: @foodwholefood
Happy cooking!
Jen - Author
Tried and Loved
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References
Dr Rupy - Recipe book 3 2 1 - Page 164 - Green vegetables