Copland’s Cookin: Broccoli and Stilton Soup

For Four:

• 1 small onion
• 1 stalk and broccoli head
• 1 celery stalk
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 Large potatoes
• 50-100g stilton blue
• 100g of butter
• 10-25ml of oil
• Salt and pepper

Optional Ingredients (for four):

• 200ml of double cream
• 5g of dried mixed herbs
• 5g dried oregano
• 5g dried coriander
• 5g celery salt
• 5g dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves

For Eight – Twelve:

• 2 Large or 4 small onions
• 4 stalks and broccoli heads
• 4 Celery Stalks
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 4 large potatoes
• 200-400g stilton blue
• 250g of butter
• 50-100ml of oil
• Salt and pepper

Optional ingredients (For Eight – Twelve):

• 400ml of Double cream
• 8g of dried mixed herbs
• 8g of dried oregano
• 8g of dried coriander
• 8g of celery salt
• 8g of dried thyme
• 4g of bay leaves

Before I start, Always remember to use a Green OR Brown board for vegetables. Mines recently broke, hence the blue board.

1. Peel and chop your onion, garlic, potatoes and celery.
   
2. Separate your broccoli stalks and head. Dice the stalks and set aside the broccoli heads as these will be added into the soup towards the end.
3. In a large pot; heat the oil until it is hot. Add the onion, celery, garlic and a large pinch of salt. Allow this to sweat for approximately 5-10 minutes.
4. Add the herbs and bay leaves. Continue to sweat until your veggies are soft.
5. Add your potatoes, sweat for 10 minutes, add the broccoli stalks,  butter and a large pinch of salt. Mix occasionally until potatoes are about 30% cooked.
   
   
6. Add boiling water until it just covers the vegetables. This will deglaze the bottom of your pot, adding more overall flavour to the soup. Bring the soup to boil, turn down and leave at a simmer, stirring occasionally.
7. Once your potatoes are fully cooked, add the broccoli heads and season. NOTE: You can slice these to decrease the cooking time or leave them whole.
8. Once the heads are cooked, remove from the heat and blitz it with a hand blender. If it is too thick, add 100ml of water at a time until it’s at the correct consistency.
9. This part is optional. Once it has reached the consistency above, bring out another large pot and a sieve. Pour the soup into the sieve and blend it through it. This will give you a smoother silkier finish.
10. Once your soup is blended, crumble in your stilton, approx 50g at a time until the flavour is to your taste.
11. Add the cream and season with salt and pepper to taste.
12. Put your soup back on the heat, bring to the boil and serve with a small swirl of cream.

First Published on: https://offtherecordblog.org/

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