Some things in life are amazing because they are so easy; like a simple meal and good weather. Since Spring is two thirds over, and summer is almost here, I wanted to cook something that represented those two things well. As much as I love spring, I like to think of it this way: going from winter to spring is like moving out of a rundown apartment. Spring to Summer is like finally unpacking all your stuff!
The first thing that gets unpacked is Broccoli! Its season starts in June and runs though to October. So while it may not be summer yet, broccoli is a great way to not only celebrate it being a little closer, but in a few months it’s also a great way to grieve it being over. So in the spirit of keeping good weather and a good easy meal, I would share this recipe.
I originally saw this recipe sarcastically mentioned by Chef Gordon Ramsey. He was making a point about how good ingredients stand on their own. He used this as an example of how broccoli, water and salt could make a fantastic soup when done properly. His recipe involved boiling the broccoli then pureeing it. It looked and sounded delicious, however; it got me wondering… a lot of flavour and colour is leached out of vegetables when you boil them. While Chef Ramsey incorporated the leftover boiling water to regain what was lost, he didn’t use all of it. He also isn’t one for giving measurements. So I thought I would try my own method, but steam the broccoli. This not only leaches less flavour from the broccoli, but also enhances the colour.
So for my take on this you will need:
- 1.14kg Broccoli
- 2 tsp Salt
- 4 cups Water
Wash and dry your broccoli throughly. Broccoli grows in dirt, and who wants to eat dirt?- Cut the broccoli in to florets, and discard the stems*
Place 4 cups of water and a steamer basket into a pot. The water level should not be higher than the basket. My pot came with a basket that sits on top of the pot.
Put the pot on high heat, and wait for a good head of steam to form. Put your broccoli in the basket, and place the lid on.
Wait 3 minutes, and check to see if your broccoli has turned bright green, and is fork tender. Reserve steaming water for later
Place the cooked broccoli into a food processor, and pulse until the broccoli pieces are the size of small bread crumbs. I didn’t have a big enough food processor, so I did mine in batches. Put the broccoli in a pitcher, and switch to a immersion blender for the rest of the recipe.- Measure how much of the reserved water you have leftover, and add fresh water until the two combined are approximately 3 cups. In my case I had 2 1/4 cups after steaming, so I added another cup. Add this to your broccoli and blend until smooth.
- As the mixture gets thicker add another cup of fresh water. This will take a while. In my case it took somewhere between 5-10 minutes. You’ll know it’s smooth enough when you taste it and it has no ‘grainy’ taste.
- Put puree back into a pot on low to medium heat
- Once The soup has throughly heated, place in a bowls and serve
- Take a fancy photo, and post it to Instagram with the hashtag #foryourfoulmouth