Fall is here in Houston and as soon as it gets reasonably cold my husband starts asking for soup. Last weekend I made cream of mushroom soup the recipe for which I’ve posted before. This weekend he requested cream of broccoli. Cream of broccoli soup and cream of mushroom use very similar ingredients but the preparation if different. One thing I do with my cream of broccoli is use the broccoli stems. Typically I cut up the broccoli and peel the stems. Then I steam both the broccoli stems and florets. I think the steamed stems give the soup better flavor than just using florets. I also don’t puree all the florets I cook because I like some small florets in my soup. Below is the recipe
1 cup steamed broccoli florets
1 cup steamed peeled broccoli stems
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups half and half
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
Combine cooked broccoli stems and half the florets with chicken broth and puree with blender or emersion blender.
Melt butter in large saucepan. Add flour and stir until you have a good roux. (See WTF is a roux for more info)
Add all the half and half. It is better if the half and half is room temperature when you do this because it combines and thickens better.
Stir and cooks milk mixture until thickens.
Add chicken broth broccoli puree. Stir and bring to simmer.
Simmer 5 minutes
Add steamed whole broccoli florets and simmer 2 minutes more.
Serve
If you don’t like whole florets in your soup just puree all the broccoli before you add it.
I like this soup with a nice fresh crusty bread to dip in it.