Recipe: Cheese and Broccolini Soup

March 8, 2012 by Laureen Fox | 14 Comments

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I picked up a big bag of Broccolini while shopping at Costco recently. After using some to make Steamed Broccolini, there was still lots left in the bag, so I decided to make a Broccolini version of a Cheese and Broccoli Soup.

If you’re not familiar with the vegetable, here are some notes from Wikipedia – Broccolini’s flavor is sweet, with notes of both broccoli and asparagus.

The entire vegetable is consumable, including the occasional yellow flower. Rather delicate, common cooking methods include sautéing, steaming, boiling, and stir frying.

Nutritionally, broccolini is high in vitamin C but also has vitamin A, calcium, folate, and iron.

[toggle title="Storage Tip:"]Stand Broccolini in a glass of water in the fridge to keep it fresh longer.[/toggle]

Recipe: Cheese and Broccolini Soup

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Summary: This recipe is a slight twist on a couple of old favourite soup recipes. Broccolini tastes like a cross between both broccoli and asparagus.

Gluten Free | Refined Sugar-Free | Grain-Free | Vegetarian

Ingredients

4 Cups GF vegetable broth, divided
1/2 a 1 kg bag, or about 1 lb broccolini, chopped
1 medium onion, caramelised (I used some from my freezer)
1 1/2 cups milk or milk substitute of choice
3 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (I used a Tex-Mex blend)
2 1/2 Tbsp corn starch or GF thickener of choice
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Optional Toppings

chopped green onions
shredded cheese
sour cream or plain unsweetened yogurt

Instructions

Place 3 3/4 cups of GF vegetable broth (hold back 1/4 cup for thickener) and chopped broccolini in a large pot. Over medium heat, bring to a gentle boil, until stalks are soft but still bright green. You don’t want to over cook the broccolini or the soup will lose its homemade freshness.
Add caramelised onion, milk and shredded cheese. Simmer, stirring constantly until the cheese has melted and is well blended, remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly.
Pour soup mixture into a blender or food processor. Pulse until the desired consistency is reached. I held back some of the soup mixture because I wanted the soup to have some chewy bits but if you enjoy a creamier soup, you should purée all the soup mixture.
Return soup purée to the pan, reheat almost to the boiling point.
Meanwhile, mix corn starch with the 1/4 cup of reserved vegetable broth. Stir until well blended, pour into the broccolini soup mixture. Stir, taste, add salt and pepper as needed, continue stirring and simmering until soup has thickened.
Serve warm, topped with chopped green onions, shredded cheese, sour cream or plain unsweetened yogurt (if desired).